How to Shine

How to Shine

One of the ways I’m pretty brilliant is about us. I get us, poor little we, with all our stuff. So much fear, and anger, so much mislearning, and grief, so much self-hate. I get us.

I’ve been doing what I do since I was a kid. I have always cared about you, I have a good ear, a big heart, and have always had a pretty good sense of what we are about. It got messed up during the dark ages, but I healed that up nicely.

I also draw pretty well, can do music-y stuff pretty well, and I can write.

As an expert on people’s stuff, I will tell you that, in my experience, everyone is brilliant at something, and even good at other stuff.

Oh, boy, am I hearing some interesting objections. I am not talking about being brilliant at screwing up. I’m not talking about being brilliant at failing. I know this, remember, and just because things don’t seem to be going your way doesn’t mean you suck.

How do you know you are brilliant? What makes you smart? Why are you so wise?

You know you are, deep in your heart of hearts, you know you are. How am I brilliant? What makes me use my smarts?

When we settle down, and just accept that we are brilliant, and in our particular way, we can start to enjoy it. Owning that we are brilliant is fun. Using our brilliance is fun. Being really good at something is fun.

I used to think that being brilliant was about being able to do math. Period. There are so many ways of brilliance, like stars in the sky. My balance of brilliance is unique to me, and yours is to you. Maybe you are brilliant with languages, and can communicate with tons of people. Maybe you are a genius with money, or can write songs that people love. Perhaps your genius is painting, or you are a baby-whisperer. Maybe your cooking is your genius.

Why do I own my genius?

When I settle down, and just accept that I am brilliant, I start seeing your brilliance, and seeing how brilliant you are is a joyful thing. And when we combine our brilliances, our collective magnitudes shine dazzlingly bright, and we can accomplish miracles.

I found that using my brilliance was one of my favorite things to do (“Pam! Stop that socializing!”) even if it wasn’t being valued by others. When I tried to stifle it, I felt miserable, and hobbled. I bet you have, too.

We need to find places to let our brilliance shine, where we get to enjoy our smarts, and feel satisfied with our cleverness. It may not be the job we are doing, but we will be so much more content when we give it a place to run.

How have I change from hiding my light to letting it shine all over?

(c) Pam Guthrie 2013 all rights reserved 09192013