Wild and Free

Let’s talk about rage. About desire. About wild.

How many of you feel discomfort reading those words? Unsettled?

Good. Lean into it. That feeling you’ve been avoiding has been desperate to get out. You’ve been shoving it down. Covering it up. Numbing it out. But it just won’t go away.

You’re afraid you can’t control it, but you trying to control it is killing you. Killing your creativity. Killing your passion. Killing your spirit. By trying to stay small and safe, you destroy every part of you and of your life that is big and beautiful.

I know. I’ve been you. Years of staying quiet. Looking pretty. Fitting in. Shirking back or shrinking down. Shaming.

I stopped trusting to protect myself. I stopped feeling so I didn’t have to hurt. I traded dreaming and creating for producing and achieving. I traded being for doing. I forgot how to have fun. How to play. How to just enjoy.

I woke up at 30 and didn’t recognize the person in the mirror. She pretended to be happy while carrying her wounds and burying her longings. Joy and peace seemed like an impossible reality for her. Maybe she didn’t deserve them. Maybe it was selfish to pursue them.

If she made everyone else happy, she would be happy. Right? If she did all the right things, that would be enough. Right? Stay in your lane they said. Quiet your voice they said. Take out the emotion they said. Don’t want too much. Don’t give too little.

Not anymore. I’m grateful for all those who showed me the truth. Who have helped me wake up.

I will live courageously. I will love recklessly. I will dream fearlessly. I will hope unswervingly.

I will honor myself by being who God created me to be, and I will honor others so they are empowered to do the same. This is restoration. This is love. This is hope. This is who we were meant to be. Real. Hopeful. Fierce. And filled with love.

Be you my friend. The world needs you.