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All colors of the rainbow are equally as beautiful as each other. Every shade serves some purpose, including the in-between shades. Every color needs to be expressed to its fullest extent in order to be the brightest rainbow. 

If colors are suppressed, ignored, or hidden from the public eye...well, honey, that's not a rainbow anymore. Those are just a bunch of loose colors. A rainbow by definition isn't a rainbow without red, without blue, without the pot of gold at the end of its farthest tail. Its just a smear of paints in the sky. A mirage of a painter's messy self-portrait.

How does this relate to me? You might be thinking. Well, we're all rainbows. We all contain different shades to our personalities and how we express them. We aren't one-track people. We have different sides, wishes, hopes, and dreams that change from day to day. Some days I like the rain and want thunderstorms to run rampant through my city. Other days I wish for nothing but the sun to come out of its den.

 Aside from behavior, we express our colors through speech, dress, and the organization of our environment. If you've ever heard that people who have a messy desk have a messy mind, you probably aren't far off. That's not necessarily a bad thing. I'm not exactly the neatest person when it comes to my surroundings, but my mind is very organized. I don't lose track of things too often. The messiness is in my impatience and tendency to hop from one task to another, jumping from whim to whim and leaving the old wrecks to build up in my environment (I'm working on it, don't worry). The good thing is, my projects have to do with books, journals, papers, and pens instead of construction projects. I can only imagine having loose nails and screws and paints and who knows what scattered around my desk space...goodness.

I digress! Like always! :) Anyway, how we present ourselves is an important facet of how we digest our internal states. Essentially, we want our work space and fashion to mirror our personalities so that we're conducive to success. If we don't allow parts of ourselves to be channeled through to expression, we cut them off. We exclude a color we may be confused about and store it deep inside ourselves. There, it festers, it rots. It can wreak havoc on our emotions, since deep down we know we aren't being our true selves by withholding it.

Remember, you can change how you view the world, but you can't change your essence. What I mean to say is, if your favorite color is purple and it always has been, you've always gravitated towards it, then it's going to be nearly impossible to convince yourself in a day that your new favorite color is yellow. That would be a lie, and deep down you'd know yellow wouldn't fill in the same gap as purple did. Then you might feel a little sad. Maybe you'd feel like something is missing. When we aren't staying true to ourselves, we tend to feel disconnected.

I was told a very good piece of advice by someone who helped me find myself just recently. It sticks in my mind whenever I'm confused about something. It's a pretty simple concept, but it's something we tend to ignore. This is it: If you aren't acting as yourself, as your TRUE SELF, then you're going to fail every single time. You won't be happy. No exceptions. Now, you could be saying yeah right! When people put on a persona and lie to themselves, they can still be super successful. They can still be CEOs, or popstars, or have a family, or have financial stability.

But are they HAPPY on the inside? Are they satisfied with how they got there? Often times the answer is no. If you stay true to yourself and your morals, then when success comes, you'll be able to FEEL it, deep down. You'll feel proud, joyous. It's the feeling of your hard work paying off. You know that your honest gifts were what promoted your success, not luck, not your persona. It feels good. You feel free, you don't have to pretend for anyone. 

THAT is staying true to yourself.

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So, how do you express your true self? For some, fashion. For others, activities. For most, it's a combination of these things. Your work space, your home, what music you listen to, how you act. Voice, body, mind. They're all expressions of your inner self.

It can be scary sometimes, when you're trying to come out of your shell and you know the people around you might take offense. They might judge you, criticize you, or look down on you. But you can't let it get to you. Their judgements don't matter. Only your judgements of yourself matter. And you don't judge your true self, because then you'd be hurting yourself. You accept your true self wholeheartedly. And since you know you're doing the right thing, being your BADDEST SELF (yessss honey!!!) then you should know to IGNORE THE HATERS. They might be haters because they're too scared to leave their own shells. 

Maybe they're unhappy, and they're taking their anger out on you. Remember to ignore them the best you can. Don't let it get under your skin. When you're operating as a true, beautiful rainbow, you can tell when other people are smears of colors. It's strange, but it's true. When you're operating on your highest frequency, as the purest expression of your personality, you can see through bullsh1t a lot better. You can tell when people are being fake. You can sense their un-rainbowness.

It's empowering. It's eye-opening. You feel like you're on top of the world, because you are! You're a rainbow in the sky! La la la la!

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There may be roadblocks or constraints to expressing yourself depending on your environment. You may wish to change up your fashion or adjust your surroundings, but find you can't because of financial or situational circumstances. And I totally get it. Not all of us have the capability to just do as we please with infinite supplies. If I could purchase a bunch of chic, fitted suits and flower-child dresses I totally would! But those are big $$$ I currently don't have, so I must make do with t-shirts and sweatpants. No biggie. One day I'll get to dress like a bada$$ (with environmentally friendly materials, of course. I'm an up-and-coming environmentalist! Go sustainability!)

Wherever you are on the financial spectrum, you can still do your best given the resources you have. Even subtle changes in your appearance and environment can have massive impacts. Switching your hairstyle, reorganizing your belongings, cleaning your area, allowing yourself to sing out loud, coloring when you want to, saying what you want to...these are all huge steps to encompassing the inner rainbow. We all have a gorgeous inner rainbow in us, and we should let the world see it! By hiding it, we're doing ourselves and others a disservice. You were born into this world as YOU, not as your persona. Not as your Ideal vision of you. 

OWN whatever you are, with all the quirks and strange attributes. Once you learn how to come into yourself, there's really no going back. You've tasted sunshine from your inner awesomeness, and it tastes like freedom. It's good to be weird. Weirdness is in short supply these days. Weird is original, weird is creative. You don't have to act like everyone else to do great things. I know I DON'T! 

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THE RAINBOW LIST OF SELF-EXPRESSION

The following list will contain a bunch of different areas of yourself that you might want to tap into to meet your inner rainbow. Peruse them as you may!

♬ Appearance- hairstyle, nails, accessories, fashion trends, color theory, makeup, shoes, messages on clothing, comfortable fabrics, piercings, tattoos, posture, layers...find clothes that make you feel like the best you!

♬ Musicality- songs, beats, melodies, lyrics, mood-setters, internal music, playing an instrument, dancing, trance music...find what musical texture speaks to you!

♬ Activities- There are so many hobbies! Exercising, reading, writing, hiking, studying areas of interest, cooking, cleaning, coloring, making art, singing, dancing, talking to animals, exploring nature, talking to friends, journaling, praying, napping, being awesome!...there are so many more...find what you love to do!

♬ Friends- this one is less of a list. Find people that complement your true self instead of degrading it. You deserve people who respect you as you are, not as who they want you to be. Let go of toxic people that always make fun of you for being yourself. They aren't worth your time. If you have family members that do this, handle it the best you can. Find space away from them, or explain to them that what they say to you can't hurt you. We don't choose our family but we can choose how we react. Handle the matter respectfully, and don't let them rain on your rainbow!

(Side note: Rainbows are beautiful and so is the LGBTQ+ community! Whatever you are, don't be afraid to let it shine! Don't feel bogged down by traditions or your ancestors' expectations. FFS! We're living in the NOW, not in the THEN! We don't have to live in the past! We love reforms! We don't have to crap on same-sex couples anymore! We love gay, transgender, ace, queer, nonbinary folk...+!! We love self-expression!)

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QUOTE OF THE DAY

"This above all: To thine own self be true."

-William Shakespeare, Hamlet

Commentary///

BE YOURSELF! If you don't know exactly who that is yet, no worries. You can explore yourself by discovering what you like or don't like...and by recognizing patterns in your behavior. Maybe you always have the urge to be outside. Perhaps pastel colors really draw your attention. Whatever it is, start to see the bigger picture of yourself. It's never a bad idea to experiment and learn what floats your boat. Luck to you who are starting to define yourselves! It can take a lifetime to get to know your rainbow. All we can do is take it color by color...

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Woooo! We got through another one. Thanks for sticking around for expressing yourself in the environment! It was an honor. <3

Love & Light,

Izzy.