The Courage to Be Seen

Photo by Gilberto Olimpio on Unsplash

One of Spring's gifts to us is courage. And more specifically the courage it takes to allow ourselves to be seen. Seen in the fullness of who we are. Seen in our difficult, challenging, wounded places. Seen in our bright and vibrant and successful places.

Sometimes what’s the most difficult is to be fully loved up on in all our fullness. Fully loved for our bigness, but also for the ways in which we hide, for the way we want all the attention, for the way we give it all away. Fully loved when we're angry, feeling terrified, or utterly lost. Fully loved with we're thriving, feeling beautiful, and abundant.

A common human experience is to have some sense of not being good enough. Or bright enough. Or loud enough. Or quiet enough. Or something enough. There is a place deep within so many of us that believes we’re either too much or not enough. And that place, deep within every person I've ever encountered, is terrified of being seen. Even the person who loves the stage and the audience. I guarantee you there's a part of them deep down they want to hide, run away from, or cover up.

It’s different for everyone, but it’s a shared human experience. The truth is that it takes a lot of courage to be seen. It takes a lot of courage to bear our vulnerable truths to the world. Especially to a world that’s bent on criticism, judgement, shaming, and "othering."

I often think about the courage it takes for the tiny sprout to initiate its growth through the top of the soil. There’s so much unknown. It doesn’t know exactly what it will meet as it leaves the cozy protection of the Earth’s soil that’s been its home. It doesn’t know if a bird or slug will eat it. It doesn’t know if a human will step on it. It doesn’t know. But it grows up towards the sun anyway. Because that’s what its yearning is to do. That's what it's born for. Somewhere in the ancient DNA, that plant knows that if it doesn’t at least try, that it will die.

From Sacred Seasons Spring:

When we express our truest selves, we allow others to witness who we really are. This can be scary! But deep down it is what we all desire: to be seen.

As a seed pushes through the soil into sunlight, it is seen and nourished by the sun. This gives the seed additional motivation and energy to expand into its authentic nature. It is a precarious journey for the sprout to break through from the protection of the earth to the potential dangers of the above ground world: the wind, the weather, the birds, the insects, humans treading on it. Yet if it didn’t face this inherent vulnerability, it would never have the opportunity to express its full capacity of the flower, the fruit, and the seed. It would never experience the gift of reseeding the earth with more of its like.

As we open ourselves up to being seen by others for our creative ideas and inspired actions, we have an opportunity to be witnessed in our authentic selves. We have the opportunity to succeed and thrive. If we resist this vulnerability, we may never know or fully realize our capabilities.

It takes a tremendous amount of courage to grow in ways we’re meant to grow, yet it’s also one of the most basic and truest of things. It’s written in our DNA, our bones, our soul, how to expand, how to share our truth and our medicine with the world. And yet. There’s so much we encounter that gets in the way through our upbringing.

This spring, I want to let you know that you are more than worthy to be seen. You are more than worthy to let your light shine. It’s not only that your worthy of it, it’s that it’s necessary. Your flavor, your medicine is exactly what the world needs right now. We need you. We need your courage. We need your messiness. We need your wisdom. We need your failures. We need YOU. All of you.

Many years ago, when I was grappling with the terror of being seen, terrified of voicing my truth, a song flowed into me from the mysterious unknown that helped guide me. The lyrics are as follows:

The flicker of the flame

Calling you, calling your name

Your vitality, your vitality

Begging you, begging to be free

It’s to take a stand

It’s time to open up

Let yourself, yourself be seen

With an open heart

You can trust yourself

Let yourself, yourself be seen

May these words guide you as well, through the torrential rains and sunbursts of Spring. Through the doubts and fears, through the elation and celebration. I’ll be here cheering you on. The more you let yourself unfurl, the more you take that courageous step to blossom, the more the entire world benefits.

Thank you for your medicine. Thank you for committing to the path of allowing your authentic self to shine more brightly and more clarified each and every day. Even if the process looks messy and uncertain. You're doing it. And I love you.

Photo by HappyDIYHome

For more Spring insights and medicine, check out the Sacred Seasons Spring Guidebook for an intentional, meaningful, and authentic way to connect in with yourself and the Earth's rhythms.