Heart-Centered Guidance | Shine Your Light | Newsletterish
Stop Making Yourself Small and Shine Your Beautiful Light
Why you hide and are afraid to be seen
“Don’t be afraid to shine. The world needs your light.”
― Timi Nadela
Are you hiding your light under that proverbial bushel? Are you afraid to be seen? Do you want to be invisible?
I’m not talking about a desire to be alone to recharge or enjoy your own company. I’m not talking about having no interest in being a public speaker or the life of the party. I’m not talking about being modest about your accomplishments or gifts.
I’m talking about deliberately “hiding your light.”
If you’re making yourself small by shrinking into the background so others won’t see you, it’s got nothing to do with them at all. More often than not, it’s about wanting to hide from yourself. That desire to withdraw is caused by longstanding emotional pain, issues that create insecurities, a lack of confidence, or less-than-stellar self-esteem.
When you come from that place, you don’t want to see yourself because you don’t like yourself. And you can’t imagine that anyone else likes you either.
So you do your best to hide who you believe you are.
Sometimes, even if you’ve been a confident person and enjoyed a good sense of self-worth and self-esteem, you can be knocked sideways by the challenges of life. Off balance and still reeling, it can take a while to regain that former inner strength and self-assurance. You might find yourself wanting to disappear into the woodwork, hiding away while you lick your wounds and try to regain some sense of who you are again.
People might call you introverted or a loner, both of which are fine, neither of which is the reason for your hiding. As you try to be inconspicuous, you become more noticeable because your silence and unwillingness to open up are so obvious. When you’re too quiet, some people don’t know what to make of you. They might wonder if you have a problem with them or think you don’t like them.
They find it disconcerting not to know what you’re thinking, which keeps them off balance. It creates distance, a separateness that is certainly not helpful in forming relationships. That, of course, is the whole point; there is some version of “If they knew me, they wouldn’t like me” going on.
The truth is, the more you try to hide from others, the more you are seen. You attract the very thing you fear — being pushed to come out of hiding.
All of us are flawed and imperfect and each of us has a unique beauty that is meant to be shared. Your human imperfections are no worse than those of anyone else. It is only when you see yourself as equal to others that you can begin to feel comfortable in letting your light shine for all the world to see.
If you allow others to be imperfect; why do you not allow it in yourself, too? You must treat yourself the way you treat others. If you enjoy their light, you must allow them to enjoy yours, too.
Come out from hiding. Smile at your imperfections and if they are aspects of yourself that you can change or want to change, then change them.
If not, accept them as a part of yourself, but don’t deprive the rest of us of seeing your beautiful spirit shining brightly as it is meant to do.
The Invitation:
Have you ever played small and hidden your beautiful light? How did it feel to be there? What did it take (or what would it take) to allow you to come out of hiding show everyone all your colours?
Perhaps it hasn’t been an issue for you but you know people like this. How does it make you feel to see others playing so small when you can see greatness in them? Or when you can see it in yourself but you shrink away from it?
I would love to see your stories and poems on any aspects of this topic. The more we talk about it, the better our chances of coaxing more lights to come out from under those bushels.
And when that happens, what a brilliant world it will be.
Yay! A hearty “Thank you!” to our Pub Family followers; we are growing!
Hope, Healing and Humour — 155
Shorties But Goodies! — 253
The Witchy One — 61 — and having gained a few more beloved followers this week, an excited little Witchy twirled out of my cottage, nearly toppling into a bramble bush as she made her way down the path.
Our brilliant and eclectic Pub Family members have done it again! Check out the latest splendiferous submissions! Be sure to highlight, clap and leave a comment to say hello, share a hug or offer a word of appreciation!
Sahil Patel has written about some simple strategies to be happier:
He also shares a poem about how writing impacts his life:
And here’s one by Sahil about his inner child — and I’m sure this applies to all of us!
Mary V shares an inspiring, exciting, and energising short piece that’ll have you itching to chase your next dream NOW!
She’s got a fabulously funny story to share — with a wonderful message, too!
Shameem Anwar regales us with yet another of his brilliant stories! I’m sure you’ll love this one as much as I do!
Carmellita drops a fab reminder into our laps with this short piece, something that can advertsely affect every single one of us and we’re not even aware…
In those awful periods of “overwhelm,” Anne Emerick reminds us that we don’t have to do it all at once…
Aarti Tailor is excited about the amazing synchronicities of life!
Andra Forbes drops some cool facts about our beautiful planet here:
This is a beautiful response by Divya Goswami to last week’s newsletterish. The invitation was to write about how we can worry about what others think and let them derail us from our goals.
Mario López-Goicoechea shares a warm and light-hearted piece about a lovely interaction:
A Rustic Mind (Manali Desai) has written a short poem reminding us that dark times always pass:
Christina offers poignant thoughts on gratitude to light up your heart and your life:
Andra Forbes shares some fun into about gravity:
Suma Narayan loves being a teacher and offers some fun and thought-provoking anecdotes from her experience with students:
And from Witchy — yes, folks, I know this is a long read, but oh, my goodness, Rebecca’s answers are incredible! What a fascinating woman! The things she has done and seen…wow!
This, from your devoted editor, Liberty Forrest, Author — thoughts on how to set aside your own squeamishness and support loved ones:
Tagging our beloved Pub Family, and offering my deepest gratitude for all you are and do: 🙏🏻💝
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Shining Your Light: Published on libertyforrest.com
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