Speak, Woman!
I had to quit.
That’s not me holding the “I quit” sign. Just someone random holding the “I quit” sign. But that’s ok. Just pretend it’s me.I downloaded it from Canva.com. If you haven’t checked out Canva, you should. It’s pretty cool.
I had to quit creating. If I’m being honest, I haven’t had words to express the creative funk I’ve been in over the past two years. As a writer and comedian, honesty and transparency are the roads used to carry us past boundaries. At some point, I realized that honesty comes at a price I wasn’t willing to pay. Speaking my truth, even in the name of comedy, has come to mean that someone who disagrees could cause me to lose everything. I didn’t know how to move forward.
I began writing as a way to use the unique perspective I gained from surviving my past to help you find purpose, embrace uniqueness, and find humor where everyone else sees the mundane monotony that most fall into. I continued to write to encourage those who feel like they are meant for something more or something different but aren’t sure how to get there. I created the “At Least I’m Pretty” community for the people who are overwhelmed with the responsibilities of life and need to know they aren’t alone.
In order to make those connections genuine, I have to give my unfiltered perspective, my authentic, honest truth. Sometimes that truth is unpopular. My words could easily be misconstrued or taken out of context by anyone at any time. While that shouldn’t be an issue, (we all are free to have our own opinions & perspectives, right?), from what I’ve seen lately, all it takes is one person who doesn’t like my message to ruin, not only my career, but my credibility, my honor, my brand, my livelihood.
After watching others get attacked or even worse, lose everything, I’m left wondering, ‘Is it worth it? Is the act of putting my thoughts and feelings into the world in hopes of helping one person feel less alone or gain perspective or find meaning worth risking everything?’ My family relies on my income just as much as my husband’s. If I lost my ability to earn a living, we would be faced with some tough decisions that would uproot our entire world. So, what now? Is sharing my opinions, my observations, my experiences it so important to me that I would toss it all on the table?
You bet your sweet, juicy ass it is.
Look at that sweet, juicy ass!
If we don’t overcome the fear of being cancelled for speaking our mind, we each lose our voice. Our beautiful voices that we use to speak our truths will be silenced forever and the only voices left will be those who only speak the same language. One word. One sound. One message. How boring! If we don’t bring back the art of constructive debate, we lose our ability to open our minds to viewpoints other than our own. If we are so arrogant as to believe that our words are the only truths, we stifle our own intellect. If we don’t rebuild our resilience as a civilization so that we don’t fall apart when someone disagrees, we’ll either collapse or live among homogenous insights that are never challenged.
I’m tired of being scared to speak. I’m a FUQIN woman. My female body makes men. I’m powerful. Being a woman is my superpower. It’s my wisdom. It’s my intuition. It’s my compassion. I’m beyond a survivor. A survivor celebrates breaths. I’m a thriver. I celebrate LIVING. It’s more than keeping my heart beating. It’s taking the wounds I’ve suffered and making them lessons. It’s the resilience I’ve earned. The strength I’ve gained. I’ve overcome too much in my life to allow my voice to be silenced by the vocal few. And so have you. Our daughters are watching. Our sons are listening. What do they see? Who do they hear? Do they see us backing down or standing tall? Do they hear the voices of everyone but us? Do they hear us speak our truths? Or do they see us shrinking? Do they see us hiding? Do they hear our silence?
We have the power to unapologetically own our narrative. YOU have the power and permission to speak your truth just like everyone else. You are unique and that uniqueness is where your power lies. No one else can speak our authentic truths. So lets speak them!
Anyway, I guess what I’m saying is… I’M BACK NOW, Y’ALL!
Ok, that one is me.
I’d love for you to come with me. It may not always be funny or comfortable. But it’ll be an adventure.
