The Courage to be Disliked
The question is…do I care more about you than what you think of me?
If I care more about being liked then I will hold back the magnificence of my full being.
I will dress and act and speak to please. And in the process never please anyone, including myself, for the me that refuses to be shaped by another’s projected opinion will not find voice or expression.
If I care more about you than what you think of me, I will speak with love to the magnificence of you. I will speak with love of the behaviour and habits you have that you may not see, that prevent you from expressing your magnificence. I will speak with love, not anger. I will hold you in the field of my care, knowing that it may be weeks, months, years or never for you to know my words and actions came from ultimate care for you.
The courage to be disliked is the courage to love ourselves. To treat ourselves with the compassion that knows both our magnificence and fallibilities. It is the courage to speak up against those who’s voices have been silenced by submission and oppression. To speak for what we care about, what moves us to act and lead.
The courage to be disliked is not the same as ignorance of our effects on the world. It is not narcissism.
It is the ultimate voice that speaks to a world that dignifies humanity and life. It speaks from a field that is greater than any one self.
In speaking for our care of others and Earth we create an expanded world.
August 30th 2019
Photo taken August 30th, 2019