I Am Real

I listened to Kate Winslet speak of a documentary (The Golden Hat) she is narrating about an autistic child whose voice was unlocked through the use of a keyboard.  After years of silence because of this child's inability to speak he reached out to the keyboard keys and typed his first words to the world: I AM REAL.

Think on that a minute.  The child had been institutionalized, he had been shut off from the world, from his family, from his life.  His first words when given the opportunity to communicate in a language others could understand was to say, "I AM REAL".

On my path to authenticity, those words hold such power for me.  To my kids: I am more than just a mommy. To my husband: I am more than just your everything.  To my employer: I am more than just a passionate water dork.  To the photographers I work with: I am more than just a form and pretty face.  To my family: I am more than just a memory of your past and the force in your present.  I am real.

I am too many things to account for in this small space.  Marianne Williamson once wrote, "“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Awesomeness. 

Cheers to being real.  Cheers to uncovering and embracing who you really are in this space of life.  Cheers to embracing that person once you find her.  And as E would say, give her a "kiss and peck and a hug around the neck."  B would quickly add "Again, mommy, Again" as he does with anything that makes his smile.