The Many (Hidden) Sides of Me

For much of my adult life, I hid aspects of myself away.  To some people, I was an analytical lawyer, while others knew me only as a health counselor, or only as a tarot reader, or only as an improv comedy performer.  I would keep all of these aspects separate, sometimes for self preservation, and sometimes just to make things seem easier.

Recently, I was interviewed by the Huffington Post’s Nancy Ruhling as part of her Astoria Character’s series.  In the article, I’m pictured with tarot cards in my hands, but talking about every part of my career. 

When I read the piece, my first reaction was not excitement - but fear.  I thought that I might lose health counseling clients who wouldn’t like that I was a lawyer, legal clients who wouldn’t like that I was a tarot reader, and so on and so forth.

The Many Sides of Me - Embraced!

I took a moment (as I advise you when you find yourself feeling particular emotions) to really connect with the fear, and I soon realized that it was just an old and familiar fear: the fear of rejection, an old fear of being really seen.  Moreover, it was a fear that was wrapped up in old realities that don’t really apply to me anymore. 

I realized that I want to be seen and known for all of who I am, and that the world and the economy have changed enough that more and more people are accustomed to multi-career professionals.  I have many friends and clients who have more than one career, and I have lots of clients who have hired me for more than one of my talents.  An unexpected by product of this analysis was that bringing all of these parts of me together led to an epiphany about the work I love doing as a lawyer.

Unhiding the Many Sides of You

So why am I sharing all of this with you? 

Because I want you to know that you don’t have to hide who you are as much as you may think you need to.  I believe that the more you and I can stop hiding, the more we can release guilt and shame, and the more we can feel great about who we are - all of who we are.

When you tell the world who you are by sharing more of yourself with the people around you, you affirm to yourself and to others that you accept yourself.  You affirm to yourself and others that you’re proud of yourself.  You allow your talents to shine.  You allow yourself to share more of your gifts with the world.  You get to receive acceptance and praise for all that you are.  In addition, you release feelings like guilt and shame and you relinquish many perfectionist tendencies you might use to create an “acceptable” facade.

Unhiding the Physical You, Too

And while we’re on the subject of hiding, a great way to release shame about your body is to stop hiding the parts of it that you feel are too fat or not attractive.  For tips on how to do that so that you feel really great, check out this post from the summer.

Just so we’re clear, I’m not saying that you should immediately send an invitation to the CEO of your company inviting him or her to your upcoming burlesque show (You have an upcoming burlesque show? Oooo, how fun! Can I come?), but it might be okay to send the invitation to your buddy from your writing class. 

I think you get the idea.

So this week, think about a way that you could share more of yourself with the world.  For example, think of 3 things you might want to try and pick the easiest one this week.  Just to start you off, you could:

1) Send an email to some friends letting them know about a new class or event you’re taking part in.
2) Wear something you wouldn’t typically wear, like patterned tights or a color you don’t usually try.
3) Tell a close friend about a dream or desire that you have that you haven’t shared yet with anyone.

The purpose of this exercise is not to knock down your barriers all at once.  However, if you can take these small leaps out of your comfort zone and share more of who you are more of the time, you will notice a new sense of a freedom and a new ability to stand for who you are.

As always, let me know how it goes in the comments section!

When you get a chance, check out the other More of Me to Love tips and blogs this week.

Golda is a certified holistic health counselor and founder of Body Love Wellness. She counsels women and men throughout the country on how to get off the dieting roller coaster, give their bodies what they really crave, and love their bodies and themselves. Golda's counseling and activism work have been featured on CBS's The Early Show, ABC's Nightline and Time Out New York. For more support with healing your relationship with food and your body, get your free copy of Golda's Top Ten Tips For Divine Dining by clicking here.