As children we know the rules of the playground very well: If you want to play kickball/tether ball/football, etc.--you wait to be chosen. The closer you were to the first person picked, the better. If you were the last person picked, you were whack. Period. No one wanted you.
Fast forward into the future, past adolescence and into adulthood, we are picked by our partners; picked by colleges, internships; fellowships and job after job.
You got rejected for that job? You weren't picked? THEY didn't think you weren't good enough? Ok, no problem. Dust yourself off and go "back to the lab" and get "good enough" so you can get picked next time. And sometimes you do! And sometimes you don't. I know VERY talented actors who have applied for graduate school multiple times and didn't get picked until the 4th or 5th time. What does that teach us? If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. A very valuable lesson. Very important lesson indeed.
We have been taught to wait to be chosen.
But, what if we have placed too much importance on "being picked"?
What if we have given too much power to people and circumstances outside of ourselves? What if we, by virtue of waiting to be "picked", have relied too much on receiving validation from others? Have we been trained to wait for someone else to lead? Or to wait for someone to to say to us, "You are good enough now... you can lead".
This is what I respect about Jennifer Lopez. This is not meant to come off as shade, but she is not the best singer. I think she is an AWESOME dancer and very good actor, but singer? Not so much. HOWEVER, do you think she cares what I think about her singing voice? HECKS NO! Jlo gon' sing until she can't crawl AND be a judge for a SINGING competition. WHY? Because, damn it, she wants to! It gives her joy! She don't care if YOU or I don't like it. That chick does exactly what she want to and she ain't thinking 'bout YOU!!! And that's why she is an icon. She ain't waiting to be picked based off of what other people think. And to that I say, "YES, GIRL! GO, BE FLYY!!"
Not too long ago, I faced a situation in my professional life where there was something that I wanted to do-- I KNEW I would be good at--but, it wasn't in my "bucket"--you know that thing called a job description that tells you what you can and cannot do. I was bummed. I felt boxed in. Stifled.
Then I realized, I can do whatever the heck I want to do. It is MY job to create that space for myself. I'm the fool if I allow others to dictate when and where and how my creativity gets shared. So, I chose myself and created Unapologetically Flyy. I call the shots. I create the content. I can do or not do whatever I want.
I chose myself.
What if we really need to just "pick" ourselves?
When was the last time you chose YOURSELF?
I'm Flyy/You Flyy,
Robyne
