Spring is Here! It Is Time to Step Out from The Closet!

Spring is Here! It Is Time to Step Out from The Closet!

I can hear you all now, eweeeeeeee what closet is bear talking about? Well I hate to disappoint you all but I am speaking of the many closets that exist out there…Why, because many of us are there hiding in them and if we really look closely and were really honest about it we would see ourselves peeking out from some form of a closet that we have been hiding in.

Each closet may be a bit different but the purpose remains the same… fear…and once we settle in that place of fear, hiding there seems easier than stepping out into the light where everyone can see us as imperfect. And the thought of that is terrifying; I know I have been there many times throughout my life.

Is it hard to come out, sure it is…
How hard is it to come out and tell people you are in bankruptcy?
Or looking your family in the eyes and saying I am gay?
How hard is it to hide in a closet if you cheated on your partner?
Or looking at your kids and telling them you are divorcing their dad or mom?
How hard is it to tell your parents something you fear will disappoint them, no matter how old you are?

It is not that one or the other is harder…for they are all hard.
So why is it we compare our closets without looking in our own?
All closets are hard… one is not better or worse than the others…one is not easier than another…for they are all hard…

At one point or another we all jump into the closet and hide, because they feel safe for us…at least for a little while. We can hide from what is on the other side of the door of that closet. No matter what our reasons are however, it is not a healthy place to live.

So why is it so hard, because we make it so, we worry about what others are going to think how they are going to react and I get that I truly do. We worry about loosing people over the issues, what is going to happen when the cat is let out of the bag.

Why? Because they all cause stress, it is normal and it is something that our brains do and is absolutely normal. Yet what happens when we choose to stay in the closets for long periods of time, not sharing the worries, concerns or secrets we have been holding on to so tightly? We play havoc with our own bodies for holding stress in can bring on illness, disease, heart attacks, it throws us off balance emotionally , physically even sometimes socially.

So what places us in there, what makes us step into that dark space behind the closet doors? Fear…fear puts us in the closet and we continue to feed it by hiding in the closet.

Okay so take a deep, deep breath and turn the knob on the door and step out of the closet.
Be real positive about it, be ready to get real back when you do. Take a step to release the fear. Authenticity…Be Direct, apologize if you need to for something you have done. However be unapologetic….do not apologize for who you are, never for who you are, for you are human like the rest of us, perfect in your imperfections.

Write your own story. Remember, if you feel scared in that closet you are not alone. It is hard but no matter what your closet is made of or where it is… there are others just like you waiting to do the same… so step out into life, and remember closets are not made for living…
but the World is.

Mitakuye O`yasin
~ bear Medicinewalker

“Vanilla Skies” by Jonny Lipford and is available at http://www.jonnylipford.com/