Come Out of Hiding and Show Us Who You Are

How are you hiding parts of who you are? Do you know that coming out of hiding is an essential step of doing your purposeful work.

In kindergarten, when I accidentally wrote with pen in my teacher's book, I felt--what I now know as--shame. "I am a bad girl who did something wrong" I thought. And my way of dealing with that was hiding the truth. I snuck into the kindergarten room and slipped the book back on the shelf without telling a soul, believing that if anyone ever found out the truth, they would no longer think I am good.

In 2nd grade, my teacher saw me as gifted. Phew! I was being seen as a good girl. So she gave me an extra summer project to create a photo album documenting my trip to England. I started it but never finished. When I returned for the new school year, I felt that same feeling of shame. I was a bad girl who had done something wrong. And my way of dealing with it was hiding out of sight. I avoided that 2nd grade teacher, one of my very favorite teachers, for the rest of my years at that school.

Do you have your own early memories of of hiding the truth of who you are and what you did? Of feeling shame? Of casting yourself as Bad?

I have countless versions of this pattern dramatically enacted throughout my childhood. And, I find these patterns happening still in my present life--in more subtle ways. I love catching myself in the act of hiding...noticing the shame that spurred it...and bringing in love and liberation however it is needed.

How are you hiding or shaming in your life today? And how can you give yourself a good dose of love and liberation?

When clients come to me wanting to discover their purposeful work or launch their soul-satisfying business or expand their impact & leadership, there is always some degree of hiding and shaming that needs to be addressed.

Each time we want to expand the way we authentically show up in our work and life, we need to come out of hiding again, revealing more and more of our truth.

The world certainly does not benefit when we hide. Your truest self needs to be seen and heard in order to make your unique contribution.