What would happen if you stopped playing small and let the full light of your being shine—would you finally give others permission to do the same?
This weekend is special for two reasons. First, it’s McKinsey’s tenth annual Next Generation Women Leaders program, which I’ve been honoured to be a part of for the past two years and very sad to be missing this year due to my own massive scheduling f***-up (see my post on regrets). There is something very special – and very powerful – about 500+ brilliant young women gathering and discovering what’s possible when they live into their potential.
Second, Sunday is Mother’s Day in the U.S. With every year that goes by, I develop an even deeper appreciation for my own mother and how she raised me. My mom only ever encouraged me to be myself and follow my heart. Through her eyes, I saw a limitless future, believing I could do anything I desired and set my mind to. If she ever had any doubts or concerns about the path I had chosen, she kept them to herself. One of her trademark expressions when I was growing up was “shit or get off the pot!” (I heard that a lot), which to me was a kick in the butt to fully engage with life.
Despite my mother’s unconditional love, life still taught me to play small. Originally an opinionated, high-energy, LOUD child, I learned that standing out was not a recipe for fitting in. I have a visceral memory from sixth grade when I was the editor of our class newspaper, and everyone else quit because they thought I was too bossy (I might have said I just had better ideas). As I remember it, though an 11-year-old’s memory may be unreliable, I had to apologise to each person individually and beg them to re-join our group. As a teenager, I felt awkward for being one of the smartest kids in the class, playing down my accomplishments so as not to be uncool (I failed – I definitely was NOT cool!). As I moved into adulthood, I found dating difficult, always holding part of myself back for fear of being too ‘intimidating’.
It took me a long time to fully appreciate the powerful message Marianne Williamson has for us in this week’s poem. But the more I reflected, the more it hit home. While, on the surface, I may have feared being inadequate, a social outcast, my deeper fear was of my own power. I was afraid of what might happen if I let the full light of my being shine brightly, if I unleashed my full personality on the world.
What a blessing it is to have someone in your life who sees the brilliance within you and encourages you to believe in and fully embrace your potential, rather than thinking you’ll never be good enough or fearing what will happen if people saw the ‘real you’. And how liberating it can be when we set that example for others. Marianne Williamson’s poem is a powerful call to all of us to shine bright – to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous, so that we can give others permission to be the same. May it inspire you to step more fully into your own brilliance.
