So I said it, “There’s an elephant in my room.”
I’ve finally written it, here for all the world to see.
There’s an elephant in my room, and it’s big and heavy and not nearly as cute as the image I posted on this page.
But I figured it never hurts to lighten the load a bit with a colorful image.
By now you may be wondering, what’s she talking about?
So I’ll start by sharing Wikipedia’s description of the expression:
“Elephant in the room” is an English metaphorical idiom for an obvious truth that is either being ignored or going unaddressed. The idiomatic expression also applies to an obvious problem or risk no one wants to discuss. It is based on the idea that an elephant in a room would be impossible to overlook; thus, people in the room who pretend the elephant is not there have chosen to avoid dealing with the looming big issue.
What’s my “obvious truth that is either being ignored or going unaddressed”?
My truth is that until today, I hadn’t written on this blog for months– many months. I, the woman who has shared most of her personal transformational life journey on these pages, hadn’t shared a thing on this forum in a long, long time.
And it made me feel “lesser than” and like a horrible fraud.
I had begun to tell myself a story that I wasn’t living up to my vision of the Wise Well Woman. The weight of the obligation I felt to share my continuing evolution in ways that mattered, had become heavy and uncomfortable.
So I stopped posting here.
I lost sight of my original vision – to simply share this journey– mine and yours.
I bought into the notion that I “had to” or “should” or “needed to” write about certain topics, to teach certain lessons, and to use just the right words. I compared myself to others who reminded me there had to be an underlying intention that you would buy my “stuff”. After all, I was trying to grow a business, wasn’t I?
But I never intended to be an expert Internet Marketer.
So I kept myself busy elsewhere.
Amazing things had been happening in my world.
In the words of a friend, I had been over-blessed!
And it’s not that I hadn’t been writing.
I’d been writing in lots of other places, for lots of other reasons. If you’ve been following along on other social media you can see I have a lot going on – working on TEDx events and growing my favorite non-profit, Trash to Treasure Creative Reuse Center are the two biggest.
And, I have to give thanks for my growing Creativity Coaching practice, too.
The Beyond Baby Steppers and Stepping Up Mastermind members are absolutely inspiring!
But as long as I’m truth-telling here, I have to admit, that my journaling practice had taken a back burner to my over-commitment.
So it’s no surprise I found it hard to come up with things to share that felt right or good. I was not connecting to or nurturing my Inner Wisdom.
I began this post with no intention other than to declare my truth so I could open the gate to free my elephant… but as I close, I’m realizing there is an obvious lesson here that is worth highlighting:
For me, there is nothing that can take the place of the ritual that is journaling.
The lightness of being that comes to me when I open myself up to allow my truth to fill those pages is like nothing else I’ve ever experienced.
I’m reminded, again, of the words of one of my earliest coaches:
“You have everything you need inside. You wouldn’t have your dreams if you didn’t already have everything you need to make those dreams your reality.”
My Inner Wisdom — that voice of everything I have inside– speaks to me as I put pen to paper on the pages of my journal.
I receive guidance, through my heart to my hands as I write, and I know I have everything I need.
I hope that if you’ve allowed your practice to drift away from that you’ll gently nudge yourself back to writing a little each day.
May your days be blessed with the joy of journaling!
And if this story resonates with you, and you feel a calling to free your elephant — I hope you’ll use the comment section below to declare your truth and lighten your load, too!