Be bold.
Be audacious.
Follow your heart.
Your heart, not someone else’s heart - YOUR heart, it beats in you and for you - so, please hold it dear.
Pay attention to what it is YOU want out of life. We all, each one of us, have dreams and hopes - hopes that we can fulfill those dreams no matter how big or small.
I have always loved this: If it’s possible, it’s not big enough.
So, I encourage you all to dream big: go for big, epic...more, go for more, and please... try not to let self-doubt or fear or feelings of not being good enough stand in your way of doing your life up, accomplishing great things. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t have self-doubt or fear - it’s walking through all the doubt and fear - that’s where the magic can be found.
If you love creating ART - by all means create ART. Art is what taps into our souls. It awakens us, inspires us, encourages us; fills us with feelings and emotions and so much joy. Without ART the world would be bland, and bland is never inspiring. Whatever you chose to do with your life, please, don’t scrimp. Our lives truly, deeply expand when we do what it is we love.
Our lives also expand and grow and blossom when we surround ourselves with the people we chose to love.
On that note: please, stand up for the people you love. Stand up for the kids and friends and people in your life who maybe... maybe... feel less than or intimidated or fear-filled or worried or shamed or scared to stand-up for themselves. Stand up and stand tall for the underdog. The dismissed. The disenfranchised. There is nothing more glorious than human beings standing with and by each other - that is called humanity.
Be true to yourself. Really, truly deeply true to yourself. try not to push down your feelings or obliterate them - and yes, they will be uncomfortable or unfamiliar - but great untamed joy is found in that. One day you’re going to be out in the world - without other voices and folks getting in your way - and if there is something that you hope to do, hope to see come alive, to fruition - go for it. Give it your very best shot. Give it everything you have, because here is an absolute truth: you are invaluable. Unique. What you may accomplish one day may in fact change the entire world. Think Steve Jobs, or Maya Angelou, or Gandhi, or Einstein, think Lady Gaga, Georgia O’Keefe ... Arthur Miller or Steven Speilberg - Marie Curie - John Lennon - Billie Eilish - James Baldwin... someone who had the passion and the grit to discover what made them tick. Think of the men and women who took an idea and turned it into a piece of art, a movement, a piece of theater, a movie, a book, music, a magazine. Think of the Doctors and Scientists, the Architects and Designers... they too, sat in a classroom imagining ‘what if’. Think of the Activists who had enough brave to go out into the world knowing they would be criticized, vilified and still believed that they had to do something to make this world better. Our world was born out of all the brave humans who didn’t let the word NO stop them.
They mustered their courage. They dug deep and dug some more, and didn’t listen to the naysayers and kept going. You all have courage. Yes, it’s true. It may be covered up right now with some dust, but trust me, YOU have courage. Unveil it. Expose it. Let it sit in the sun for a bit and grow.
And lastly: always...always... seek love. Find love. Nurture love. Create a bounty of love. Give and receive love. If for some reason you feel scared of love, please know that love is a bit scary. It means you get to open your heart, reveal parts of you that may have some shame or doubt or worry ...but love, more than anything, is what nurtures every single part of us. There’s a saying that love makes the world go ‘round - and yeah, it’s a bit hokey - but it’s completely and utterly spot on.
So, to wrap this up:
Be bold, audacious, mighty and fierce. All of that is inside you. You don’t have to search for it, or buy it, or barter for it. You have that in you - you just have to tap at it.
Follow your heart, your dreams, your longing. All of that - makes you stand tall, stand up. All of that is in your reach. If you can dream it - you can manifest it. Manifest the best life you can dream up.
Help others. Be a best friend to someone who is being bullied, being demeaned, put down, excluded. Everyone needs a good friend. If someone is hurting, offer them a shoulder, your hand... tell them that you. too, know about being hurt, or humiliated. WE all need to know that we’re not alone in this world.
Please, be kind. Be generous. Be goodness multiplied. Be the kind of person who is thought of as a person of great integrity and dignity and decency. All of those qualities make someone great, someone to look up to, someone who is thought of with so much respect.
And lastly: Don’t let anyone, not one human, take or dull your shine; shine up.
Trust me when I tell you, you are made of magic.
Amy Ferris
Author. Writer. Girl.
