Disclaimer: This blog post is not 100 percent devoted to sexuality or #LGBTQIA, but both provide the perfect framework for this train of thought. If you feel confined, restricted, or if you are living a lie and you want to break free, this article is especially for you.
I have had to make a lot of hard choices this year; honestly, most of us have, but there is one that is life-changing.
I do not like labels, so I choose not to live by them or be defined by them. I was also raised by people from an age where morals, scruples, and public decency ruled. You know, “Don’t say xxxx in mixed company,” or “some things are better kept to yourself.” Today, as a woman of wisdom, I understand that people of that age meant well when giving that advice. While I believe in many of these beliefs wholeheartedly, I also understand how it has cost the lives and peace of so many who are alive and dead.
At the same time, life has taught me that you are not always “free,” even as an American. Just being a woman of color has taught me that, but I digress. I must say this: life is so much better when you are willing to risk it all to be who you are. While our innate human desire is to be loved, validated, cared for, and valued, we must never diminish, hide, or lower ourselves to achieve these innate desires.
Is It Time for You to “Come Out?”
I have the pleasure of watching the next generation, including many sons & daughters of my friends and associates, live in their freedom, confirming the pros and cons that I knew existed. And the point of it all is this: freedom starts in the mind, not in protests, labels, legislation, bans, banners, t-shirts, or anything else. So many hide behind the latter, which depletes them because they forget to free their soul, mind, body, and spirit. Freedom is costly, so before you take your “stand” or “come out,” make sure your foundation is solid enough to support it.
In the end, even those who are well revered by the majority are hated and cast down by someone. We are not exempt, but we can have peace and thrive through it all.
Happy thriving, and you know I am journaling and writing all about this journey. Trust me, when I go “public” or “come out” with any big revelation, it usually involves a book, a stage, and a microphone. Why do you think I have relationships with film producers and directors throughout the U.S?
Until then, I am 100 percent committed to walking in my truth, my identity, and the door is open whether you choose to enter supportively or exit. May everyone reading this live free and worry less about the personal affairs of others. Your anointing and calling are personal, just like theirs. (That is my spiritual southern way of saying, “Worry about yourself.”)
#TheJoyGuru #NoLabels #LiveFree #NoShame #GuiltFree
P.S.: What cracks me up is that so many will read this and think this is my “coming out” and place me on one team or the other. I wish life were that simple sometimes. I can’t even decide whether I want steak or chicken for dinner and often end up cooking both and nibbling here and there, which totally should be the theme of my life.
However, if you read my poetry book, But God from Death to Life, you would already know the answer, lol. But true to my upbringing and people of that age, I’m fine with pretending like you didn’t read it already, and you can stay in suspense for when (or if) I publish my next book and tell.
Alesha Brown, CEO, Fruition Publishing Concierge Services™
Editor-in-Chief, Published! Magazine
Award-Winning Entrepreneur|Publisher|Transformational Speak
