If People Can’t Handle The Brightness Of Your Light, Give Them Some Shades

by Cari Cole

The title of today’s article, I must confess, is not mine. I heard it from the incredible motivational speaker, author and goddess, Lisa Nichols, just last month at the eWomen’s Network conference in Dallas, Houston. It was the punch line of her speech. Pow!

It makes me think of the quote (not from the man who after being wrongly imprisoned for decades forgave his captors, Nelson Mandela); rather it comes from the bestselling author and motivational speaker, Marianne Williamson: It is one of my favorite quotes ever, and gosh darn it, I well up every time:

“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.” Marianne Williamson.

How brightly can you shine? How big can you radiate your light? What if we all shone brightly? The world would be aglow.

And yet…

Every day most of us hold back. We dim our light so that others won’t be uncomfortable – so they won’t feel left out – or left in the dust by the people they love. When a bright light shines, it makes people nervous, but I detect a lie here – is it an illusion?

It makes me think of one of my students who recently stepped in to the spotlight and in the last two years has become well known and is many people’s favorite new artist (including mine). Watching her metamorphosis was like watching a movie. When I met her she had 289 Twitter followers and 527 Facebook fans. Now, she has over 100,000 Facebook & Twitter followers, her music is in movies and beloved all over the world, and she shows up in magazines for the best dressed and fashion forward. I remember the struggles she went through in the beginning, to find her individuality, and then to carve her music out so carefully that it reflected exactly who she is. She still does work that – and thank goodness she has a label that is staying the course. Good music still happens! You have to believe that – especially artists like yourself. How are we going to make this world a better place if we listen to the accountants of the world? They cannot reign over creativity; but they can stay in their left brain lane and give us free will over our territory, which is creation.

When was the last time you stuck your neck out for what you believed? Did you get slapped down – or were you praised? Did you stand your ground?

I have a talented young student in Grammy Camp this summer, and while she’s having a blast, she was taken by surprise to find that she was completely different from all of the other kids attending. But that’s why she is going to be such a superstar – because she doesn’t quite fit in. Isn’t that exactly what we celebrate in artists? Superstars stand out – they’re different. And the ones that do fit in don’t really resonate for very long – they kind of blend in to the backdrop. So what are you going to do? Dim your light so you fit in? Or shine as brightly as you can even if no one seems to “get” you in the moment?

Granted, it’s not easy to get to that point where you are in sync with yourself in such a way that you can do that. And let’s be clear, I am not talking about having no social filter or being arrogant or egotistical. When you shine your light, it is not offensive to others because it is not at their expense.

From experience I can say that we do in fact liberate each other by shining brighter. And if people around you can’t handle it, as Lisa Nichols says:

“Give them some shades.”

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PS – If you are in NYC on Sept 17^th and want to rub shoulders with Marianne and a bunch of enlightened folks – come join us at the I CAN DO IT conference – I’ll be in the preferred seating area with my friend Ursula Jorch. Come say hi and shine your friggin’ light!!

PPS – For a beautiful cinematic version of Marianne’s quote/prayer above Watch it Now – I dare you not to well up!

PPS – Check out my new Fre*e Vocal Instructional Videos here – 34 of them!!! (www.howcast.com/user/caricole)

For info about the Step Up to the Spotlight Program (you can join anytime), click here.

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For info about the NEW Artist Success Circle in New York City email us here info@caricole.com