Just so you know, my husband will find the title of this post hysterical. Much to his chagrin, I am an internal processor and an introvert (although those who know me know that I love people.) I don't really live out loud. Except through the my writing and my preaching and my radio show. Ok, so perhaps I'm not as quiet as I'd like to think.
Most of us don't live our lives out loud -- or at least that's my perception. We go to work and we do what we do and we do what's expected and we try to stay out of the path of anyone or anything that may be gunning for us. We often prefer to live lives of quiet desperation than to really be "out there." We don't know what to do with the people who share too much information on Facebook or on a blog or in a conversation. It makes us uncomfortable.
But I do think believe that God calls us to check our fears at the door and live out loud. As Marianne Williamson writes:
“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.”
So I hope you will join me in living out loud today. Write a blog post. Sing a song. Call a friend. Do the laundry -- while you are singing. Don't be so afraid of someone else's response that you live small. Remember, you are a child of God and when you shine you give others permission to shine as well. And I think the world could use a little more light.
