Ampersands & Otherselves. (Or, Your Contradictions are Your Brilliance.)
This I know. You, just like me, want to be liked, understood, seen and heard. Intellectually, you get that not EVERYONE will get you and you’re (mostly) fine with that, as long as YOUR PEOPLE get you. (Though, let’s face it: wouldn’t it be so much nicer if everyone just found you as delightful as you truly are?)
In that desire to be liked, understood, or to fit in, we are super intentional and hyper-aware of what we’re revealing to our world (and NOT revealing.) Which can have us shelving parts of ourselves that don’t follow the script we believe we’re supposed to follow…or that we believe others expect us to follow. Our OTHERselves get edited out, like the mess that’s cropped out of the picture.
To be received as wise, we shelve our goofiness. To be received as powerful, we shelve our vulnerability.
What if you didn’t?
What if you imagined, for just a little while, that not only could we handle your otherselves, but that it would actually offer us yet another place to lean in, appreciate and learn from you?
That the fullness of your expression invites the same in us?
That what you are editing out is precisely what we need?
And moreoever, precisely what YOU need to honour your own intrinsic value of authenticity?
You are tender & fierce.
You are wise & a goofball.
You are warm & an unapologetic truth-teller.
You are deeply pragmatic & wildly creative.
You are this & that.
The two facets are not at odds; they are in complement. They are the umami & the sweetness. The harmony & the melody. The orange & the purple. The masculine & the feminine.
You’ve been shelving your otherselves for so long that this may feel like a welcome relief or may knot you up even tighter. Just trust me. There is nothing but expansion available to you when you make room for your ampersands.
Witness:: Business magnate & enlightened social activist. NHL goalie & lawyer. Cyber-punk & pastor. Silver screen star & inventor.
Bring in your ampersands & otherselves
Don’t shelve your otherselves in an attempt to make it easier for us to receive you. Not only can we take you as you are, but we are richer for your ampersands.
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Five ICONIC shifts leaders use to overcome Imposter Complex.