Being Yourself Is Hard

Being yourself is hard. People don’t tell you that growing up. They don’t tell you that being yourself can be almost impossible sometimes. It is much easier to just fit in. It is much easier to be “normal.”

In the Disney Channel Original Movie: High School Musical, one of the students decides to make a confession in the cafeteria. He tells his classmates his big secret. He’s trying something new. To quote Zeke directly, he said, “I bake. I love to bake! Strudels, scones, even apple pandowdy. Someday, I hope to make the perfect crême brûlée!”

Zeke’s baking truth stuns and outrages some of the students. They reply, singing all in unison to Zeke,

“No, no, no Stick to the stuff you know If you wanna be cool, follow one simple rule Don't mess with the flow, no, no Stick to the status quo.”

It is normal to want to stick to the status quo. Whatever that means. We all want to be liked. We want ourselves and our work to be well-received by our peers. It’s human nature.

But it takes bravery to be your true self. It takes bravery to be someone like Zeke who wants to follow his passion even if it’s not something other people would choose for him. But why is it important to be our true selves?

When we decide to be ourselves, we can more freely approach our goals. When we accept our strengths and weaknesses, we unlock a deeper understanding of who we are fundamentally.

Plus, the best writing comes from our authentic hearts.

It’s like Hemingway once said, “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at the typewriter and bleed.” And while, I’ve remembered this quote from my teenage days, the older I get, the more weight it seems to have.

But to write freely and unburdened from the heart—or to bleed, is hard. It can be hard to be vulnerable. Writing allows strangers to see a secret side of you. A sacred side.

I don’t have all the answers for how to totally accept yourself, but it is something I work on every day. I do it because I want to have no secrets from the world. I want people to be able to look at my writing and see my heart and soul oozing from every word.

When done right, our own suffering leaked onto the page can deeply touch our readers. It can maybe even change their lives, and that’s what it is all about.