I need to talk to you about my obsession with pearls.
More specifically, I need to talk to you about HOW EVERYBODY LOOKS AT ME LIKE I AM A GIANT WEIRDO when I wear fifty strands and then wrap 'em round and round my neck.
Ditto when I wear a blazer to a soccer game; black lip gloss to a meeting; fishnets underneath a pair of shorts, or dye my hair grey on purpose.
It's not just a matter of personal style: I get side eye for a lot of things. Traveling so goddamn much. Not settling down. Having an unconventional career. Drinking my coffee through a straw. 😉
There was a point in my life when I would have felt…nervous about it all. Not my choices, necessarily, but the way they would be received. I didn't like people having an opinion about me. I didn't want to seem like I was trying to be contrarian. I mean, god for fucking bid someone thought I was wrong.
What I learned over the years, however, is that showing up as yourself, however you see fit, is the most important work there is to be done. We are all setting 1,000 different fires for one another, simply through example alone, and having the courage to be the most brave version of yourself matters. It matters because they *are* looking at you, and they are wondering about you, but more importantly?
They're wondering about themselves. They're wondering if maybe they, too, might be brave. And that's the gift of reflection that you're offering to the world—not an affront.
In this way, being an individual is one of the most generous things you can do, for it might seem like a quiet act?
But it speaks volumes.