When we live more fully into who we truly are;
When we name and claim the various aspects
of who we were called to be;
People may reject us.
They may call us crazy
Or dangerous
Or try to destroy us.
This does not change who we are.
This does not make us bad or negate our truth;
Rather, they are colliding with their own assumptions
about who we were,
and it is an uncomfortable process.
It may affect their own perceptions of their 'club;'
Trouble the foundations of 'this is who we are together.'
Stigma runs deep and has real-life consequences.
Our truth may bring up other difficult truths
in the people around us
that they are still working to hide
or leave behind.
The answer is not to become silent once again;
to pretend to be
something other than who we are;
not to hide our light under the bushel basket
any more than we may need to do to survive
for a time
until we find enough safety
to let our light shine in its fullness.
Yet we may need to let them go
so we can grow and thrive and bloom;
the seed we have planted
through our choosing to exist
may be buried deep within them
but is surely planted nonetheless;
though the soil may be rocky or dry;
though they may try to eradicate it
like a weed;
in doing so they may leave
desolation in their wake--
a sterile, barren landscape
trampled flowers
in what might have been a vibrant garden
with openness, curiosity, and nurture.
And so we may find ourselves adrift for awhile;
uprooted;
searching for a new garden, a new place
to be among those who do welcome us for who we are
and all that we are;
nurture us
prune us in the right times and in the ways
that do not leave us with jagged scars
but bring us into ever fuller bloom
And perhaps someday, too,
those who once worked so hard
to stamp out the weeds
may discover the light within
may be open to watering
and fertilization
and their garden may grow
planted with enough flowers--
not uniform rows
of a solitary species--
but wild, zany, unique
each beautiful in their own way
watered with enough welcome
with enough acceptance and understanding
with enough room for everyone
to finally thrive.
