Saturday, June 24, 2006

Decloaking - Article

Isn’t it curious how when we experience something that is meaningful to us, even life changing, we don’t talk about it as we should? I’m curious, is this something that everyone does? When have we let someone silence us - to make us think that what we have to say isn’t important?

It was very freeing for me to begin to speak like this, “From my experience” - those are powerful words when you think about it … nobody can argue with your experience, because it’s yours, you own it.

Too often we ignore the voice of brilliance and truth inside of us. We begin to have an inner dialogue with ourselves asking questions like, “what do other people want to hear?” “What will happen if I say that?” We second-guess ourselves. When did we stop trusting our magnificence and stop believing in ourselves?

I did this with the article I penned for my Departmental Newsletter on a “Women’s Leadership Pilot” program I was part of. Instead of writing about my experience and how it changed my life, I “neutered” my words, thinking they would be more acceptable to my co-workers. I used the excuse that I was writing on behalf of the group, so how could I express my life changing experience in this group collective.

As days went on I didn’t feel satisfied with the article. This was an invitation for me to get curious about why I felt that way. The article was so much less than the experience. It struck me that I had used the group collective as a scapegoat. I was afraid to decloak and reveal my true voice in front of my co-workers. Heaven forbid that people might look at me differently.

Through my experience with Women’s Leadership and completion of the “Igniting the Self” program, I became aware that I have something to say, I can contribute, and I have a voice. If I decided to finally speak up and say what I think, what I feel, what I am, I can make things happen. I can share the changes I have experienced in my life. Some people might not agree with me, and that is okay, what other people think of me is not about me and is not my business. What is important to me, is that those who are interested in what is happening are able to hear about my truth, my experience, and perhaps it will invite them to get curious about what is speaking to them from within.

I am now willing to decloak, to not silence myself, to not neuter my experience anymore. This is me, this is who I have become, take it or leave it. I just am, and I now have the courage to Stand Alone and share this with others.

© Lori Walton, 2006
Unlimited Potential. Ever Unfolding. Continually Discovering. Authentic Self.

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