Pressure

[inspiration] — every tough time in my life leads me back to myself. and why is that? because me jumping ship on myself for someone or something else may be exactly what caused the tough time in the first place. me, not realizing all the greatness i am even in the midst of trials and over the voices trying to convince me otherwise, is what gets me off track i've often looked about for that ultimate fulfillment and enrichment i so desire to have on every level of my life.

it took me far too long to realize i couldn't find it because i was looking in the wrong places; it was always already me. it was buried away, not because i wanted to hide it—but because my surroundings made me feel like i had to. "too much," "not that important"—all lies. just enough, invaluable—the truth. i had to dig the extraordinary being that i am back out from under the dirt. everything about me that i was told to hide, that no one wanted to look at, was because it was too bright and shiny for them to behold. the ridicule and exclusion of my true self was due to the magnanimity of my unforgettable and incomparable presence, nothing like they'd ever witnessed. such complexity, such diversity, such magnificence. i had to rise above anyone trying to make me feel otherwise.

my circumstances may have been challenging, and they may not have always been favorable, but they helped make me—the twinkling star that i am. no fire, no gold. no pressure, no diamond.