Well, hello there. My name is Morgan Harper-Nichols. I'm an artist and a writer, and this is a space where I share words that I hope can make a little room for you to slow down and take a few deep breaths as you prepare for whatever lies ahead. Thanks for being here today. And now on to today's episode. What does it mean to truly be yourself?

I've thought a lot about this. And here's a definition I've been working on that feels real for me.

And I hope it can connect with you too. To truly be yourself is the

moment you decide you are worthy of love and acceptance right here as you are, no matter how

others see you. But the thing is, even though this may seem like a good ideal for me, at least, in a practical

sense, it can still be pretty difficult to be yourself. It's hard to be yourself when you feel like

you have to be interesting to everyone. It's hard to be yourself when you always feel the pressure to make sure

people remember you. It's hard to be yourself when you live in a world that only seems to reward

those whose vulnerability goes viral. It's hard to feel like you're enough just by being yourself.

It's hard to feel like you don't need to be something anymore.

Now, there will be moments in life where the best thing to do is to be that shining star. You will

feel a strong stirring inside of you to burn bright with love and passion for all to see. But not even the sun

shines the brightest for everyone all day. Here on earth, we weigh our turn to be under the warm

light of day. Being yourself is not about being everything to everyone all the time. Being yourself is not about being everything to everyone all the time being yourself is not about

who you can be to the person you really want to like you being yourself is not about being

who you think society needs you to be being yourself is about learning how to be right here where you are. So here are some

questions you can ask yourself. Who am I when I'm not working? Who am I when I'm not on?

Who am I when I don't feel the pressure to keep up with the way I've branded myself or presented myself to the world?

Who am I at this very moment? Perhaps the reason that many of us deal with burnout is because we feel so much pressure to burn bright all the time.

We identify where we feel like we want to belong in society and then we start the never-ending upkeep process of making sure we can continue to fit in there.

Belonging is beautiful and necessary for survival,

and at the same time in an over-connected world,

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