Just. Be. You.

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

Just. Be. You.

...simple words for something that can be tremendously challenging.

It is a big ask to be wholly yourself in every aspect of your life. To sparkle with the deepest values of your heart when you are with your loved ones and then to carry that same unshakable truth inside of you into your interactions with those who challenge you. To not cut yourself into pieces and compartmentalize each limb of yourself into boxes (i.e. this is who I am at work, this is who I am at school, this is who I am with my family, this is who I am with my friends, etc.) but to hold together the integrity of your entire being in all that you do.

I think , perhaps, we have all had times where it was safer to compartmentalize or detach - training our true selves to be torn into disjointed pieces because it was necessary for survival.

But I wonder what is the cost of splitting your soul and sealing it in separate containers in the long run?

Is it possible to reunite the whole of you - to find the golden thread of integrity and honesty and kindness and truth that you can gently use to stitch yourself back into one?

And then, to stay true to that whole you even when you feel tempted to cut the threads and return the pieces to their crates?

I hope it is possible. I think it is possible. I believe we can. Just. Be. You.