Honoring Our Truth in a World of Illusions

By Shavonne Bell

The other day, I came across a quote that read “Would you still do it if no one saw you and you couldn’t talk about it?”

I’ll be honest with you, I was triggered instantly – a sign that this was a moment to start doing some internal digging to figure out why. It prompted me to ask myself a follow-up question:

Are you sharing from your heart’s desire to express itself and speak truth or from your ego’s need for validation and attention?

In the virtual world of social media, our online grids are boasting a life of perfection (whatever that means), but how many of us are filtering out truth and suffering in silence because of it? When there’s a misalignment between the exterior we’ve crafted and the interior that remains unseen, it’s not surprising that a lot of us, ironically, feel disconnected in a world that is so hyper-connected. Keeping up that façade is exhausting.

With how often we’re glued to our screens these days, it’s so easy for social media etiquette to project itself into our physical reality. So, not only are we self-monitoring online, but we’ve trained ourselves to do so in real life, too. We entered this valencia-tinted world and somewhere along the way, we forgot to take the mask off. We forgot that vulnerability is a gift we give both to others and to ourselves. That being unapologetically raw and open is how we honor our connection to the divine.

Societal programming has taught us to shrink our authentic selves in favor of fragmented caricatures when, in reality, all parts of you deserve to be celebrated. So many of us are walking around with masks to hide what we perceive as unacceptable, but we’re also hiding the very essence that make us unique. We’ve become experts in doling out only the easily digested pieces of ourselves in hopes of approval, but your truth never needs validation. It never needs curation. It never needs condensing. It just simply is.

Our magic cannot be contained.
   

When you strip away the need for likes, retweets, and followers, it’s really genuine love and connection that we’re seeking – and we’re all so worthy of that, but when we take something that exists outside of ourselves and turn it into our source, we have essentially given our power away. We have convinced ourselves that something external has the ability to lower our vibration, and that’s simply not the case. As part of any self-care routine, it’s important to pay attention to what we take in on a daily basis, but to also be mindful and intentional about what we put out as well. We always have the opportunity to reclaim our power by cracking the mold.

By stepping back into alignment of who we truly are, we hold space and become a vibrational match for deeply and intimately connecting with who other people truly are. This is how truth dances with itself.  

So, let’s be a reflection of what it means to radically love and accept ourselves – both online and off. In a world of masks and illusions, let’s keep digging. Seeing ourselves first is how we allow other people to do the same. When we give ourselves permission to be vulnerable and live out loud, what we’re saying is “Am I worthy enough to be my authentic self regardless of who is watching?” The answer will always be YES!

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Shavonne Bell is a writer/content creator whose work is fueled by self-love, human connection, and her passion for telling the truth. Find her work here.