What follows is a quote from Sheldon B. Kopp from his book, If You Meet Buddha On The Road, Kill Him! In it, I found there to be some pretty profound ideas worth sharing and elaborating on. Let’s dive in:
“If I am transparent enough to myself, then I can become less afraid of those hidden selves that my transparency may reveal to others…” How true is it that we hide what’s within, not because we want to hide… but because we’re afraid of what we might find—it’s something we haven’t fully explored yet ourselves. And until we explore it—via writing, reflecting, meditating, etc—we’ll likely continue to struggle with transparency.
“…If I reveal myself without worrying about how others will respond, then some will care, though others may not.” We’ve all met a few of them in life. The rare ones who are who they are and don’t give one care what anybody thinks about it. And their authenticity makes them attractive—to some… and a repellant to others. The key is that it’s attractive to some—the ones who vibe at a similar frequency and want to join your tribe. The others don’t matter.
“…But who can love me, if no one knows me?” …And if you don’t know yourself, how can you expect anyone else to?
“…I must risk it, or live alone. It is enough that I must die alone. I am determined to let down, whatever the risks, if it means that I may have whatever is there for me.” …Even if what’s there is pain, suffering, and loss. Better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all.