Years ago I was exiting a bad relationship I had kept bottled up inside me for too long. A dear friend listened to my story and responded with, “closed mouths don’t get fed”. It’s stuck with me ever since. Sharing the bits and pieces I have here has fed me. There is no value so great as the value to be heard, to be seen, and to submerge myself in my own truth. And to connect; even if it’s through nothing more than relatability, shared experience. There are definitely those that are bothered by what I share here and by what I don’t share here, too. Divorce has a way of silencing parts of your life and delusion has a way of making that silence out to be whatever delusion wants it to be. The truth of the matter is that I only feel comfortable sharing my story; the story where I am in the driver’s seat and not the story where I’m being driven. And by driven, I’m referring to merely responding to the behaviors of others for which I have no control over other than the way in which I respond. Or don’t. And so, I choose to stay in my lane as best I can with progress-not-perfection being my motto.

Sharing the bits and pieces that I do has been cathartic for me. As someone who was struggling to trust their own reality, sharing my truth and seeing the words on a screen or hearing the words come out of my mouth creates a beautiful acceptable and an incredible release.

I read a post yesterday by @holly that said, “It is not your job to convert people to your way of thinking. It is your job to speak your truth so that others may find theirs. She went on to discuss how so many of us stay silent out of fear. The whole platform of instagram makes it easy for us to confuse the purpose of why it’s so important to share our truths — so easy to get caught up in likes and supportive comments (aka external validation when the real validation we ought to be seeking is internal). While those are all niceties, we must not lose sight of why we ought to share; that in speaking our truths, we are inviting others to speak theirs. It’s a way not only of owning our reality but in perhaps helping others own theirs. Many thanks to @holly for that reminder.

And so share! Share! Share! Do not let others have a hand in telling you what your truth is. Find it for yourself, own it, and share it. In the words of Oprah, “Speaking your truth is the most powerful tool we all have”. I always tell my boys, don’t give away your power. It doesn’t matter if what you share sits right with anyone other than yourself.

Remember, closed mouths… they don’t get fed.