divine idea.

officially on day eleven of the challenge.

Imitation is Suicide. Insist on yourself; never imitate. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Write down in which areas of your life you have to overcome these suicidal tendencies of imitation, and how you can transform them into a newborn you – one that doesn’t hide its uniqueness, but thrives on it. There is a “divine idea which each of us represents” – which is yours?

(Author: Fabian Kruse)

I don't know that I necessarily have the tendency to imitate others. I think my tendency is more to blend in. If I see that I am different than whoever I am around in some way, I start to automatically tone down that part of my personality. I don't like to stand out and be different. It scares the living daylights out of me. So instead of letting things about myself that people might actually like shine through, I dim the lights until I'm at a brightness where I just fit in with everyone else. 

I think this tends to stifle my growth and my potential as an individual. Actually, let me take that back. I KNOW it does. It's something I'm working extremely hard on. I have a quote on my Facebook that I have to read daily, sometimes more than once a day, that I'd like to share with y'all because it helps serve as a reminder that I should never be ashamed of who I am or try to hide who I am.

“Our worst fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘who am I to be so brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?’ Actually, who are we not to be? You are a child of God: Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There is nothing enlightening about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us. It is not just in some of us, it is in everyone and as we let our own light shine we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” - Marianne Williamson

I don't know that there is one specific area of my life in which I tend to hide my unique self. I think I pretty much do this across the board.

I would say that my goal is to continue to step out of my comfort zone professionally, spiritually and artistically. And now that I have addressed this prompt I'm definitely going to look at how I can do that more specifically.

Gah. These prompts aren't easy. It's more difficult than I thought it would be to think through these topics and then put my thoughts out there.

Thoughts?