Anna Leary — As I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned one of the best life lessons: I’m free to actually BE ME in ALL of my glory. You want to know why? It’s because I AM AMAZING all on my own. I don’t need anyone’s permission. There’s no footnote or explanation or asterisk — I AM AMAZING.
For so, so, so, so, so very long I let other people’s vision of me bring me down, down, down, down, down, down. That I’m too loud, I’m too fat, I’m too opinionated, I’m too cynical, I’m too compassionate, I’m too political, I’m too brash, I’m too vocal, that
I’m
just
plain
TOO
MUCH.
That my clothes were TOO MUCH. That I needed to tone everything down. That I needed to toe the line of the group to fit in.
I have spent far TOO LONG trying to fit in and size down and quiet down and it’s exhausting! I am who I am for a reason. I AM AMAZING. Just as I am. I AM AMAZING.
I am WOMAN. HEAR ME ROAR! No really, join me. It’s so FREEING!
I used to apologize for being ME and That. Is. Exhausting. You can’t live life that way. There is no authenticity in that place.
I have partially shaved hair. I sometimes dress like a dude and sometimes like a kindergarten teacher and it’s ALL OK. It’s ALL ME. And I’m ALL OK.
Some people won’t like that. Some people don’t like me. And that’s OK. It’s taken me 36 years to get to this place of peace to say that: it’s OK if some people don’t understand me and don’t like me. I will not change on account of making other people more comfortable. I’ve recently lost friendships on account that I will not change to make THEM more comfortable. I am living life out loud because that is my Truth. I am teaching my kids that it’s OK for them to be exactly who they are and I want them to see that reflected in how I live too.
I have a purpose on this earth. I am a woman. I am a change-maker. I am a mother and a wife and a friend. I attract goodness and beauty and life and joy and greatness.
I AM AMAZING.
I was so touched watching Pink’s VMAs acceptance speech where she recounted telling her daughter, Willow, about how important it was to her about being true to herself after her six-year-old daughter had come to her thinking poorly of her own body.
? @Pink accepting the coveted #VMA Vanguard Award ??? pic.twitter.com/uF7ASnHSco
— MTV (@MTV) August 28, 2017
“I said, ‘When people make fun of me, that’s what they use: They say I look like a boy or I’m too masculine or I have too many opinions or that my body is too strong,” Pink said. “And I said, ‘Do you see me growing my hair?’ And she said, ‘No, mama.’ ‘Do you see me changing my body?’ ‘No, mama.’ ‘Do you see me changing the way I present myself to the world?’ ‘No, mama.’ ‘Do you see me selling out arenas all over the world?’ ‘Yes, mama.’
“So, baby girl, we don’t change,” she continued. “We take the gravel in the shell and we make a pearl. And we help other people to change so that they can see more kinds of beauty…And you, my darling girl, are beautiful. I love you.”
Go forth and be amazing. The world needs YOU to be YOU.
Anna Leary is the editorial director of Vexteo and really loves Pink, but not as much as Kat does.
