Life sometimes has veryyy interesting ways of showing you that you matter.
It's so interesting to me that within the human phenomenon, we all can say that at our lowest or in a state of hardship, is when we're usually reminded that we are loved or rooted for the most. We are shown that we are valued--that we matter.
Let me give y'all a little story time:
This year, I had the opportunity to share my story in a way I hadn't before--I was invited to directly share my story to intentionally impact others. I happily accepted, presented, and wrapped up feeling like I impacted no one. It felt like people clapped out of obligation, and minimal questions--it was a side of sharing my story that I had never thought about--and it felt awful. I hadn't seen a lightbulb moment go off on anyone's face throughout the entire presentation, and I felt a way I had never felt before--like I didn't impact the people at all.
Afterward, a few people came up to me to say thank you for presenting (which felt like a formality), but two other people were different.
One person wanted to have a coffee chat with me, and they later told me that speaking with me gave them a different perspective. One that they were looking for to move forward.
When the other person approached me, she said "I saw myself in your speech. Thank you for talking about things no one else talks about." She was crying--and I had never seen that either.
The two people who were deeply impacted weren't really from the story I was telling--it was because of me being me, which made what they took from my presentation valuable.
art by anna-laura art :)
There's so much emphasis around telling your story--but I want to shift away from that for this and focus on the importance of your voice and journey and how much that massively contributes to your story--authentically who you are.
There is so much power in just being who you are.
Remembering who you are. Positively challenging who you are. Valuing who you are. Celebrating who you are.
Voicing who you are, and how each piece of your story was built from how you chose to act.
It's SO easy to feel like your story or what you're doing in life means nothing when your story doesn't land with others how you felt it was supposed to (TRUST me I know)--but that doesn't take away from who you are and the why of what you're doing in your life. It doesn't stop your journey (whatever that may look like).
Sharing yourself with others and who you are is an extremely special thing.
For the past couple of weeks, I've had a lot of Hopecore (a trending aesthetic featuring positive messages and content to evoke feelings of hope and positivity through humanity) come across my page, and I realized something--those videos don't have specific stories.
Just an implicit notion of being happy with the present and hopeful for the future.
That same notion applies to yourself.
Be happy with who you are and what you're going to become--not just hoping for what's next.
Your voice and all parts of your journey make your amazing story.
Your voice matters--to yourself first, and then to others.
Your journey matters--in every way.
Everyone's story matters. Because of our stories, impactful lessons of connection, inspiration, discernment, and motivation are passed down daily. The combination of your experiences shape your voice and how you share your story.
This felt like such a hard and foreign concept to explain--but because of that experience, I feel like I finally get it and I've invested more into how I view myself presently.
Hopefully, this helps someone out there too :)
your host & certified yapper,
~ Amaya :)
