be your own kind of perfect

"Look famous. Be legendary. Appear complex. Radiate presence. Travel light. Seem a dream. Prove real."

For some reason, these phrases have been floating around in my head all week. I saw them on a quotes website whilst searching for quotes about the Roaring '20s, and they just stuck with me. They ring so poignantly and are unconventional inspirational words.

You would never think to encourage someone by telling them to try and appear to be something on the outside that they might not be on the inside. When you initially read that, you think that it is bad because it appears to be about external features. After thinking about it though, I've realized that this is the quote I've been waiting to hear for the past 5 years of my life.

I am constantly saying how I hate it when people tell me to be confident. I feel that way because I have always thought of confidence as arrogance, for whatever reason. Everyone I knew who was supposedly "confident" I saw as bratty, self-absorbed, and condescending. I never once stopped to think that maybe I just hadn't seen REAL confidence in action.

I realize now that REAL confidence comes from loving yourself and being able to understand who you truly are and what you are capable of. REAL confidence is believing in yourself enough to put your talents out there. It is also having the modesty to humbly accept praise. REAL confidence is a balance between humanity and fearlessness, and I've never looked at it that way.

In my opinion, "Travel light" is another way of saying that you have to let some things go or that you have to be modest. If you let everything you are (or aren't) capable of go to your head, your ego will inflate (or deflate) so much that it becomes pointless to even try. You just have to let some things go. Acknowledge it and move on.

The other thing about this quote is that very last sentence: "Prove real." That is the key phrase that ties all of this together. All these things become arrogance or insecurity without that last piece. Someone who is truly confident may seem like a dream, but if they believe it themselves, no one can doubt them.

I feel like I am not doing a very good job of articulating how powerful this quote is for me. Before I rant on for another 5 pages, I would just like to tell you that as tacky as this blog is- and believe me, I am the queen of cliches- I truly believe in the things I write here. I feel like society today has turned positivity and inspiration into a laughing stock, a hippie-dippie sophism that could never actual help anyone improve themselves as a human being.

I believe the only problem with inspiration is that sometimes it gets repeated so much that it loses its meaning. We hear it so often that it becomes void, and then anyone who tries to say that is seen as just another silly dreamer who won't actually follow the words they are saying.

The only way to inspire anyone is to give them the tools they need to inspire themselves. We need to put our ideas into unique words that strike a chord or make people really think about the meaning of a quote. I believe what I write here with every bit of my being, and I share it here just in case someone discovers something for themself here.

I've learned how to find inspiration everywhere. I hope you can too.