Refuse The Demand to Dim

Today, refuse the demand to dim. Refuse the attempts to snuff out your essence.

Choose joy, fierce and unapologetic in its nature to uplift and focus on the celebration within the simple things.

Dig deep into the soil where you buried the truest version of yourself, the man or woman who dared to dream before the world told you to stop, and it some cases, forced you to do so.

Unearth that fire. Resurrect the passion they insisted you sacrifice on the altar of their own inferiority.

They mock what they don't understand. They mimic what they no longer feel, playing life with borrowed sparks. They wear a mask of passion, yet they’ve forgotten what it means to burn with purpose, and so their irritability stems from your unwillingness to take your eyes off of what matters the most: you.

They may have tried to redirect your gaze, pulling you toward their center. They may have made your brilliance feel selfish, framing their lack as something you should fix. But in truth, my dear, it was never about them, it was always about you, and who you are at your full potential. You do not have to try, you are not wearing a persona, you are this person. You are a blaze. Let them witness it. Let them feel it. For you are the light that cannot be dimmed, the fire that no grave can contain.

While the world’s weight may eclipse you momentarily, know that darkness can never penetrate your essence, the authentic soul that resides within the vessel that is you. Although they have chipped away at your flesh, your spirit cannot be confined. Your spirit has no limits when it calls authority for presence.

When they demand you to dim, remember this: you are the sun.

Their fear is futile; their attempts to drag you into their abyss, laughable. They can’t touch what was never theirs to control. Your joy is the sword and fire is your shield. Unearth the wild spirit they told you to bury, the one you hid to make everyone comfortable, to keep the peace in their world that thrives on the bleakness that comes with being disingenuous to the self.

Dig up your flame that they told you was "too much." Let them choke on their own mockery, trying to cut you into pieces to fit you into a world built on compromise. You never fit their mold. You were never meant to.

So let's go further than a refusal to dim, let's be louder, brighter, and everything more than what you were told not to be. You are not here to check boxes to soothe the discomfort of another. You are here to set the world ablaze, it is your authentic nature to do so, and in that exists the natural defiance that is you.

So shine today, not just because you can, but because you won’t do anything else.