Lifting the filter

Zoom out.

Today I woke up on a Sunday morning, in the house I own, in a city I love.

My dog was curled up against me and I’d slept in.

There’s a slight chill in the air, the kind that signals a gentle transition to fall but gives way to sunshine in the afternoons.

The windows are open and I’m sipping on a warm mug of coffee with pumpkin creamer.

I have a support system that loves me and I’ve been intentional about letting them see and accept the real, human me. Not just achievements and surface-level stuff, but my insecurities, struggles, and vulnerabilities as well - the whole package.

Much of my life revolves around my first true loves: music, movement, and the written word.

It’s funny how our monkey minds can, despite having full insight into the bigger picture, convince us that our day-to-day challenges are all there is.

We get so hung up on the small stuff: what that one person said about us, how we’ll perform, what we should wear to some event or another. If we’re not careful, our perspectives can narrow so much that we forget we can zoom back out with just a twist of a knob.

Our feelings are valid, but they’re temporary. They can consume us if we forget what they are: filters applied to the reality before us. Deal with the emotions and the picture reverts, bringing clarity to what was once clouded.