As a little girl, one of my favorite places was my grandparents’ house. Every time I traveled an hour south of Memphis to visit them, I felt transported into a different world.
Every day at my grandparents was the perfect kid vacation, I loved spending summers at their house. During my visits, my grandma would make me huge home cooked breakfasts with steaming biscuits fresh out the oven, white gravy, scrambled eggs, and a big glass of milk.
My grandparents didn’t have many rules – my bedtime was whenever I happened to fall asleep on the couch from watching too much TV. Days were lazy and unplanned. I remember lots of warm afternoons spent inventing games and reading books (yes I loved to read as a kid!).
When there was nothing better to do, I would play hide-and-seek with my cousins and the neighborhood kids. We would gather at the giant red apple tree in the middle of our yard. In our little huddle we would yell out the rules of our game:
“Trevor is it!”
“House is off limits!”
“Tree is home base!”
“Yard is fair!”
“Trevor start counting!”
The “it” person would hide his face against his forearm, and in an instant, we would sprint to find the best hiding places. The pressure to find a hiding spot would always make us quarrel over the nooks and crannies.
All of a sudden we would hear, “Come out, come out, wherever you are!”
Stillness. I would hold my breath to be as quiet as possible. I remember the rush of exhilaration as the “it” person searched for me. The fear of knowing I was hiding and could be discovered combined with the understanding that I would have to leave my hiding place to seek the safety of home base made the game thrilling for me!
Most days I remember those hide-and-seek games, smile, then move onto the next thought and task at hand.
Today was different. I made a realization.
It occurred to me that we still play hide and seek.
But as adults, we call it fitting in.
When we are constantly trying to fit in, we ensure that we will never stand out.
Hiding our authentic nature, passions, and enjoyments from our friends, family, and peers makes life a game of just hiding.
The excitement of life begins when we leave our temporary hiding place and start making our way home!
In the adult world of seeking nobody tries to find us. Instead, the seeker is us.
We are seeking the most accurate version of ourselves hidden amongst the framework society tells us we should fit in. If we listen to others, if we keep hiding, if we keep trying to fit in we only make it harder on ourselves to discover our truest potential.
It’s when we come home to ourselves, to our own home base of who we are then and only then do we feel safe.
So, come out, come out, wherever you are!
Stand in your own uniqueness.
Stand in your individuality.
Stand in your weirdness.
Stand in your difference.
Stand in your creativeness.
Stand in your nerdiness.
Stand in whatever it happens to be. Being you is okay. It’s your only job!
Your uniqueness is what makes you special in the best way!
Today I encourage you to leave the comfort of your hiding place for your true home base. Nothing is riskier and more freeing than realizing home base is you!