I know part of my purpose
here is to help.
help lead.
help with insight.
yet—
I can’t lead if im not my own leader.
I can’t provide insight
without discernment.
If I’m not my own light,
how can I help you find yours?
—dáe

This passage makes me think of people following the lives of celebrities and popular social media pages. Snippets into strangers’ lives are their holy grail—their #relationshipgoals, #moneygoals and #stuffgoals. But really, we don’t know these people. We don’t know their struggles or pasts or actual goals. All we know is what we see, which is, most likely, a teeny tiny fraction of who they really are. So why are we looking at them for answers? For them to be flawless leaders and role models? For them to use their platform to evoke change? One slip of the tongue or mishap and they’re thrown under the bus. Quick to shame without empathy. Quick to forget that they, too, are humans after all.

The closer something is to a soft spot, the higher the disappointment, disgust or anger. And I think the lower the self-esteem, self-awareness and sense of purpose, the quicker the act of projecting.

pro·jec·tion
prəˈjekSH(ə)n/

• the unconscious transfer of one’s own desires or emotions to another person.
  “we protect the self by a number of defense mechanisms, including repression and projection”

We should be asking nothing from others that we don’t ask of ourselves. (There’s that insight. Reflection.) Not everyone can give us what we need. (Oh heeey, discernment!) No one is perfect. They can help you pour, but no one can fill your cup.

And when one is a source of light, a source worthy of attention and time, let them shine it your way in their own way.  In their own time. And you do the same.

❤