Reverb10. December 8.

Beautifully different. Think about what makes you different and what you do that lights people up. Reflect on all the things that make you different – you’ll find they’re what make you beautiful. (from Karen Walrond, author of The Beauty of Different)

I am procrastinating on this one. Avoiding it like it’s the stomach flu. It makes me want to crawl out of my skin. I am curious about my reaction. If I believe that each of us is a miracle, that every single person born has a unique gift, a purpose, then I too, must be different in a worthy, beautiful way.

I think, Well, I’m a really great mama, and the voice in my  head pipes in with, Yes, but there are mamas who are more patient, more knowledgeable, more creative, more active.

I think, I’m one half of a marriage that’s been rebuilt from ashes, and the voice says, Sure, but what about that makes you beautifully different?

I think, I have a huge heart and an almost limitless capacity for holding space for other people’s emotions and the voice replies, So? Why didn’t you become a therapist after all?

I think, My baby died and I’m allowing that experience to open me up instead of shutting me down.

Okay, the voice says, you’ve got me there. But you’re not the only one.

No. No, I’m not. But I’m the only one doing it my way. And that, I tell the voice, is beautiful.