I have always felt the weight of secrets. I have been afraid to be seen, to be known. Because if people really knew me, they would reject me.
If they saw me for the pretend I am, or knew the mistakes I made, or learned about that thing I did, and it almost didn’t matter what season of life I was in, it always felt like there was something.
Even before I truly had experienced big secrets, as a very little girl, I was weighed down, by anything I thought was both the truth and hidden
The heaviness of untruths bore down on me, I think a product of living in a family where we were taught, there aren’t any secrets, not really. Whether or not people see the full story now, the truth always makes itself known, so live in the light, live as if your entire story is being watched, always choosing integrity, even in the smallest and unseen decisions
There aren’t any secrets, not really. That thought is terrifying, if you’re hiding.
And you may be hiding, whether under the hand of shame, or under the pressure of living perfectly in the culture you were raised in.
What would happen if you were truly known? Who could you be, liberated from the burden of your secrets?
In the truth, we can walk confidently, not confined by fear of exposure. We can acknowledge both our light and the shadows, knowing that they both make up important pieces in the fabric of our existence.
There aren’t any secrets, not really.
Know that your vulnerabilities do not diminish your worth. We can celebrate the specifically moving beauty that emerges when we allow ourselves to be seen authentically.
We can forge meaningful connections when we are true.
There aren't any secrets, not really.
You know who you are, in your moments of vulnerability. The shadows we attempt to conceal hold no power over us when we let people all the way in.
There aren’t any secrets, not really.
It is our imperfections that give opportunity for our character and integrity to rise.
In a perfect person, in a perfect world, there would be no use for strength, no beauty in resilience.
The stories of triumph, the ones that choke us up, the people that inspire us, move us— there would be no stories of bravery or overcoming.
in the moments you're seen, all the way through
when you are finally unapologetically true,
that’s when you forge connection
and it is truthfulness that holds the key,
for meaningful lives are born when we allow ourselves to be free
in a perfect world, strength and resilience would not be sought,
but it's through adversity's embrace that true growth is wrought
There aren’t any secrets, not really.
One thing to know about living in the light is, freedom is found in telling the right people the truth, not disclosing every shadow to every person who will listen.
There are stories, secrets that held me tight that I now share so others can witness the joy and freedom in living openly.
But there are other stories that belong to me, to us, in ways that require a delicate touch, privacy, and honor. I know you’ll have stories like this too.
I hope in your heart the faces of the people you are to be true to are appearing right now. I hope if there are secrets you’re afraid of, you find the bravery within yourself to be fully known.
Because you will be known, anyway, someday.
Because there aren’t any secrets, not really.