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Let It Shine

This post is the ninth in my ten-weekSummer Music Series‘:a collection of articles inspired by some of the songs and music lyrics that inspire me and make me think… Sign up here to make sure you don’t miss any instalments: not only is the series free, but when you sign up you’ll also get a complimentary copy of my Dreamsmith Guide to Creating a Life You Love.  

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Where in your life do you shine the brightest?

When I think of someone 'shining', my first thought used to be of someone on stage or at the front of a room somewhere, their presence lighting up the the people around them; or perhaps they were winning something: a race, an award or a contest.  'Shining' definitely was aligned in my mind with performance, mastery and visibility - some kind of demonstrated excellence in speaking, acting, playing music, athletic prowess, or being the recognized champion of some other difficult-to-master and/or generally coveted skill.

This idea of 'shining' is indeed one of the dictionary definitions of the term.  The Merriam-Webster online dictionary includes the definition "to be eminent, conspicuous, or distinguished", all of which mean to be famous, noticed and 'commanding great respect'.

But of course there are other definitions of the word too, including the less-flashy but equally impressive "to perform extremely well".

Ottawa-based music artist Jeremy Fisher sings about a lot of things in his song, Let It Shine, but by virtue of the title itself, the song is about recognizing your light and then letting it shine full force - 'performing extremely well', perhaps - whether or not anyone pays attention or you're otherwise rewarded for it.

As I've gotten older, my interpretation of what it means to 'shine' has shifted more toward this second definition of shining.  Every one of us has certain areas or tasks in our lives where we 'perform extremely well'.  Sometimes those areas aren't particularly noticed by others, or certainly not recognized with awards onstage.  Often, the areas in which we perform extremely well - where we 'shine' - are not anything 'visible' or famous at all.  

Let it shine - photo courtesy of 123rf.com

We may never perform onstage, win an award, secure the title or be publicly recognized for our performance, but when we shine in our day-to-day lives, we do light up the people around us...because we're lit up from inside ourselves.  

When we pay attention to the tasks that we do, recognize the ones which we perform extremely well and then do more of those things, it leaves us with a great feeling of accomplishment, personal satisfaction and worth.  

Sometimes people feel like if their work isn't 'sexy' - I dunno, like giving an Oscar-worthy performance in a mega-hit on the silver screen, or being named CEO of a Fortune 500 company - that it's somehow less worthy, or that if they were reaaaaaally 'living their passion', they'd surely be doing something more noticeable.  But when we show up in our lives and get to act in our zone of what consultant Kristen Wheeler refers to as our 'native genius', it leaves us feeling fueled, energized and completely on purpose.  

I heard Kristen speak recently, and I loved listening to her differentiation between knowing what we love vs. knowing what we love doing (especially as it relates to 'doing something for a living').  They can be two very different things.  For instance, I might love to go dancing and if that's the case I should certainly seek as many opportunities as I can to do that, but that doesn't mean I want to dance for a living.  Nor ought it to, necessarily.  (If you saw me dancing, you'd know exactly what I'm talking about ;)).  The things that we love to do that are more apt to translate into work that we love, are the things that align most closely with what we naturally do and who we naturally are anyway.

You might be perfectly capable, for example, with a lot of practice and determination, of going out and earning a public speaking award, but if you are naturally someone who only speaks up in small groups of people you know well, and tend to be in a total zone of performance excellence when you're doing more introverted, creative and/or detailed work, you're apt to feel more energized, successful and fueled by doing those things that you're naturally inclined to do.

By all means, go out and stretch yourself, learn new skills, grow and expand your range of abilities, but at the same time, allow yourself to recognize, honour and respect the tasks and roles that allow you to operate in your personal zone of native genius.

When you do, you'll be letting it shine in the easiest and brightest of ways.

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©2023 by Kelly Wagner

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