One of the questions you may often get from other people, especially if what you do is out of the ordinary, is why you decided to follow a certain path in life.
Folks are often curious as to why you chose a particular business or profession to pursue – or perhaps why you decided to change gears and reinvent yourself at some point in your life.
In the radio and TV interviews I have been doing lately, I get this question a lot.
Interviewers ask me why I’m so passionately committed to helping people unleash their unique and authentic voice and gain confidence and ease in speaking in public.
It is absolutely true that I get tremendous joy and satisfaction from empowering people to share their gifts with those who may desperately need them, to enjoy the income and lifestyle of their dreams, and to realize their full potential as human beings.
But I must confess that much of my early inspiration came from one particular poem that I studied in my high school literature class.
The poem that had (and still has) the biggest impact on me is a verse from Thomas Gray’s Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard.
Full many a gem of purest ray serene,
The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear:
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.
It is disturbing to think about the number of people whose flower is born to blush unseen because they do not have the means or the courage to share the beauty they hide within.
There are so many ways in which we hide our light from the world, yet we are encouraged to do otherwise by Marianne Williamson in this justly famous quote from her book A Return to Love.
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves: who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone.
And as we let our own Light shine,
We unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others.
I invite you to liberate yourself from your fear. You can hear me doing the same when I am interviewed by Lorraine LaPointe on her Edge of Fulfillment podcast.
You can tune in to the broadcast on my media page. My prior interview with other hosts are on the same page.
And if I can be of service to you on your path to liberating the light within, simply email me at marjorie@vibrantvocalpower.com, and write Let’s Chat in the subject line.