Believe that you are enough
Struggles are real for everyone. We all have our own path, voice and purpose. Like a river carves its path thru treacherous terrains, we need to follow our heart to find ourselves. We are all enough!
In Jan of 2023 I took a course in Poetry taught by Keith S. Wilson. He shared the poems of a well-renowned author, Claudia Rankine. In the early part of her career (around the late ’80s and early ’90s), her work was more rooted in traditional lyric poetry - conventional poems with vivid rich imagery. She wasn’t a published author then. She was just starting out. She had to conform to the norm to be seen. To come out as she is would take time. Overtime she built confidence and name for herself. By 2004, she published "Don’t Let Me Be Lonely: An American Lyric", which broke away from convention—mixing poetry, essay, visual media, and cultural critique in a bold, nontraditional form.
In my youth when anxious I’d make plans and day dream When someone would scream Breaking the castles of my dream I’d wonder, can I build that for real? Little self confidence, I’d feel like an impostor I didn’t know if I had it in me Like the others before me Their struggles I wasn’t aware Gullible and naive I thought they had it all figured out My mind said beware They didn’t have your limitations You are not good enough Not smart enough Not brave enough Not rich enough You just are not enough Forget your dreams Be real, stay on the trail Chase success - power and fame The advice of my head couldn’t be more lame Even though I let my head be in control I didn’t kill my heart, I locked it away For several years it was hidden Out of sight, out of mind Until an event - rare and revealing came around* pausing And reconnecting me to my soul Bringing forth the inner voice Insight hidden in broad daylight Sending me down this path again To write, to create, to try And not give up Struggle like everyone before me Because the joy in figuring it out Is everything to live for It’s a lesson that you may know But you understand truly, when you dare to follow the white rabbit down the hole Through predicaments, Without predications Tune out the egoistic noise Tune into your cosmic brilliance Trust in your instincts Believe, you are enough And you truly become enough
* Event I am referring to here is the COVID-19 Pandemic and the shelter-in-place guideline where I lived at the time, creating too much free space as we didn’t have to commute, adhere to social expectations of traveling during holidays etc.