Countless people each day wage their own beautiful, often secret, battle to live true to their heart. I witness this magnificent process of inner liberation everywhere I go, through the ordinary miracles of everyday life. This planet we inhabit, I believe, is a boarding school for our souls. We are here to polish ourselves into diamonds as we move through each new life experience, gradually improving, on our way to graduation. Let’s learn our lessons well and graduate with flying colors!
As most of the world continually moves forward enacting legislation to include LGBTQIA people in equal civil rights laws, I’ve been contemplating the deeper significance of living one’s truth. The early “gay rights” pioneers, like all who have fought for civil rights, courageously lived their truth and stood up to create a brighter future for us all. I believe everyone in their unique way has at one time or another felt like an outsider. Everyone can relate to the struggle of expressing one’s inner reality in a world that often tells us our inner reality isn’t good enough. From birth, we are painted in other people’s images, judged by other people’s expectations of us, who we should become, how we should live. Whoever we are, wherever we grew up, the messages we are brainwashed with are often far from our inner truth. I wish someone in every child’s life would tell them simply: Live Your Truth.
In both NYC and London, I’ve had the pleasure of seeing the musical “Billy Elliot,” based on the Oscar-winning film. It’s the funny and dramatic story of a boy in the UK named Billy who triumphantly lives true to himself no matter what his circumstances — in his case, growing up in an impoverished coal mining town to become a world-class ballet dancer. (Now that’s a real rarity!) Billy rejects the life others expect of him, and seeks the life of his heart’s dreams. He follows his truth, no matter how impossible it seems, no matter how he feels like a unicorn. In doing so, he finds his true happiness and a whole new world opens up for him.
I think if everyone lived true to their heart, we would all feel like unicorns. Ironically, it seems the reason many people fail to live as the oddball unicorn they feel inside is because they’re afraid of being lonely. That’s the trick about being a unicorn. When you hide your true identity, and pretend to be a donkey, then other unicorns can’t see who you really are. Only when you are strong enough to become the person you were born to be, a unicorn, then you shine so bright you naturally attract other unicorns to you, and inspire others to do the same. When you live your truth, your deepest energy is set free to create the life of your best self, your highest potential. Everything becomes a teachable moment, every experience enriches your soul. By living your truth, every negative can be transformed into a positive, and all shadows can be illuminated by light.
We are here to reveal our greatest self, to fulfill our noblest aspirations, and create glory in our daily life, no matter how common our lives may appear outwardly. The very fact we are here is enough reason to rejoice. Our souls have won the celestial lottery and made it to this floating orb in space for a chance to gain the spiritual wisdom hidden in this physical realm! Congratulations! This Earth is like a speed course for soul learning, and society is a master class in spiritual evolution. Please don’t waste your precious time here! The very fact you made it to this planet means you are worthy. Live up to yourself, your true self — live up to your admission in this school of the spirit by becoming the diamond you were born to be. How can you start forging your life into a shining jewel, when you sometimes feel it is nothing more than coal? The answer is simple: Live Your Truth.
The process of starting to live one’s truth is usually difficult, depending on how far from your truth the surface of your life is. However, the rewards you will gain by living a true life are far greater than any pain in letting go of a false one. Opening your heart to your true self is the Independence Day of your soul. As you peel away layers of falsehoods that have piled upon your heart since childhood, and let go of the past, be prepared for inner battles between your false self and your true self. Be brave, and remember that falsehoods are ultimately weak. Be strong, and you will win over each obstacle. If there are days when you feel like you are swimming in a sea of suffering, just keep heading toward the lighthouse in your heart. “Just keep swimming,” as the beloved animated character Dori says. There is a peaceful cove of happiness waiting for you, with armies of other unicorns like you who made it safely to shore.
Never give up. Be yourself. Live Your Truth.
