The other day I mentioned some of my negative traits, one of which is a voice that gets louder when I get excited or upset.
Later that same day some students were teasing a student about their loud voice. “My voice gets louder when I’m excited,” the student said.
“But you’re loud all of the time,” a student replied.
I called out to the student, “Don’t let them block your sunshine, Chris.” (name changed to protect privacy)
Considering I’d just faced a personal issue with this, I empathized wholeheartedly. And I felt really sad that society says that someone who gets loud when they are excited is somehow bad, especially when they are loud in a positive connotation.
Shouldn’t we celebrate people who get excited? Certainly I don’t want to put a damper on someone who is happy and excited about life. I don’t want the message to be that student can’t be their true self.
I don’t want the message to be I can’t be myself.
I’ve been struggling with this idea since Friday. We say all of the time, “Just be yourself.” Even if we changed this idea to be, “Just be your best self,” to filter destructive behaviors, do really mean it? Or do we want people to be the self that best fits our needs?
Maybe we’re meant to find the people who do mean it. Wholeheartedly. Unconditionally. They’re out there.