Each time I write to you weekly, I ask myself if I have said all I need to say or if there will be anything else to tell you next time. I don’t know if you have noticed, but there always is, regardless of what I said the last time. Not that I knew beforehand what it is going to be, but somehow we’re here again and it makes me think about how we underestimate ourselves.

I know no one likes a prideful person and we try to avoid anything that makes us seem pompous. The older you get, the more you realize that there is always more and better, so there’s no point in raising your shoulders. This makes us underestimate and undervalue ourselves just because we do not want to overestimate.

But I come bearing good news today, which is that there is a middle ground. You might not believe this, but humility works. Humility means that you are good at something, but you do not have to prove that to anyone. It doesn’t define your entirety or make you special. You’re human, just like everyone else.

If you can no longer do it, it doesn’t strip you of your identity because you do not go around thinking you are better than anyone because of it. And it’s hard to be humble, especially at that one thing you are awesome at. So instead of learning how to be humble or overestimate ourselves, we choose underestimation.

Because we are not all round perfect, we deny ourselves the ability to step into our power. I am good at writing, but my handwriting is the most inconsistent thing I know. I like to read, but I didn’t graduate with a first class, nor am I currently in academia pursuing groundbreaking research. You will probably think I’m funny and sweet by being around me, but sometimes I intentionally ignore everyone.

So, when people compliment you or it’s time to excel at what you do best; you deliberately take chips out of your shoulders so that they droop. You say you don’t deserve it because your flaws are side by side to your strengths. It’s hard to see yourself without the dents, so you convince yourself that humility is pointless. You are not all that, anyway.

But you, my dear, shut doors that should be open. Oh, it’s that time of the week to write again; let me briefly open the door of creativity and shut it back before anyone thinks I’m a fraud. Then the rest of the week, it’s a series of “oh thank you, it’s not that serious” to anyone or anything that reflects that creativity.

Indeed, there is nothing to be proud of in this life. If the end doesn’t change, it’s all a means to an end regardless of what your means is. But there is an unusual edge about you, just like anyone. When the time comes to shine that light, do not think you are undeserving or that your flaws will cast a shadow over your light. 

Humility is accepting that what you are good at is simply the icing on the cake, even if it makes you different. It is not your identity, but your channel of illumination. Regardless of the shadows lurking in the dark, it is your light; let it shine.

Song of the moment – Big Black Car by Gregory Alan Isakov. Happy new month friends❤️