I actually love thinking in metaphors and sometimes think that everyone does. For example, I showed a friend a picture I took last weekend, simply saying, “such a metaphor, huh?” The response was a blank stare. Sometimes what I think is obvious is not obvious.

This is also a lesson I’ve been hearing from people around me. Just because I have had all of these experiences and I see all of these things and how they work, does not mean that everyone else also has these pieces of information. A very wise friend said that he had learned from another wise person (this is how it works, right? sharing!) that it is actually a disservice to yourself and to those around you to not share these things you know, these things you’ve learned, these things you’ve been gifted.

This makes me feel all sorts of ways. And one of them is pompous, which is one of my least favorite qualities in a person. But here’s the thing I’m trying to internalize: my sharing of knowledge that I actually have, from lived experiences and hard-earned studies, does not make me pompous. I will likely always value humility (and I want to acknowledge that this may be at least in part due to the residue of my religious upbringing, and acknowledge the sometimes oppressive use of the value of humility), and I completely see how humility can be taken too far.

It also makes me feel a great level of responsibility. Okay, I’ve been gifted all these things. Through privilege, I have had lived experiences that have taken me to the depths, and I have had resources available to me that have taught me that there are so many ways to at least start to heal from those experiences. It feels like there is a responsibility to offer things to others.

And it makes me feel a level of frustration. Great, so now I feel like I “should” be creating offerings to share all of this stuff with people, but there is currently no arena in which to do that. But only by honoring this experienced part of me am I fully integrating that part of my self. Maybe I need to listen more closely and with a more creative ear for how I could contribute to existing spaces, or maybe I need to just create that arena. Create courses, create spaces. Stay tuned…

And my next post will actually share with you the metaphor I referenced at the beginning of this post. Another thing for which to stay tuned! Check back next week…