This is Malia
There was something very special about Malia.
She sparkled.
You can clearly see the sparkle in her eyes in the photos.
You can also hear the sparkle in her voice during her answer at the end of the video.
I can even feel her sparkle now in my heart this morning as I write this post.
We had a really sweet and funny interaction. Most of which is not shown in this video. I had to cut so much fun conversation out because I felt like Malia’s answer at the end of the video needed to be heard.
It starts off simple, “Just be yourself.” But then with everything she adds I realize it’s probably the hardest advice to live up to in real life.
There are so many forces in life that want us to fit into a template—our society, our culture, even our families. It happens right before our eyes, and if we’re not careful, we wake up feeling like we’re living someone else’s life.
It even happened to me. At one point I lived a life that people expected me to live: I worked a high-paying job, lived in a beautiful condo, had a fancy car, and more. But inside I felt like a total phony. And when I drove home from work I couldn’t ignore the pain in my heart and body. I wanted to scream, “Whose life is this?!”
I took a giant risk by letting go of who I was supposed to be to find out who I really was. I started over completely and built my life from the ground up. And that was just the beginning.
Who we are is constantly changing. So in order to be myself I needed to build an ongoing relationship with me. This required deep listening, deep compassion, and the courage to act on it.
This takes courage because it can be terrifying. But not as terrifying as living someone else’s life ever was.
Thank you Malia for taking time out of your day to make art with a stranger. I needed to hear your advice.
Your answer allowed me to reflect on my own journey and the many times I was lost because I was living for others. And it reminded me how committed I have now become to being myself.
Big love,
D
PS: If you want to see the behind the scenes video of me approaching Malia and taking these photos, check out my Instagram or my TikTok.
