In Favor of Our Wild, Unbridled Humanity

insert Disney quote here

In twelfth grade I wrote an essay in favor of coloring inside the lines. Admittedly I’ll probably always be a slightly uncool rule-following Virgo with a deep desire to understand clear parameters and thrive alongside them.

But that’s not what this is about it. It’s about passion, expression and owning what lights you up.

GUSTO*noun
1 a: enthusiastic and vigorous enjoyment or appreciation
described the adventure with great gusto

b: vitality marked by an abundance of vigor and enthusiasm
could not match the gusto of their competitors

UNBRIDLED* adjective
1 formal + literary: UNRESTRAINED
unbridled enthusiasm

I’m a down-for-anything kind of person. Spontaneous backpacking trip to the Grand Canyon? Let’s go. Backpacking through Europe? I’m buying my plane ticket. Silly little walk in the park? Bestie, I am already on my way.

Maybe it’s my wildly active brain or my inability to sit still, but I feel something magical when I’m face-to-face with an opportunity to experience life.

8 hour solo road trip? Down. Visit the new bookstore in town? Down. Letting someone spill their guts to me? I have all day. Making friends with the cashier at the supermarket? It’s my favorite thing, er, one of them.

Truth be told, I have a disgustingly innate love for most all people, places, and things - Even the ones I don’t love.

Because encountering what I don’t like teaches me something about the world and how I fit into it.

• The workplace bully? Love her because it solidifies my desire to be more generous and honest.

• That one questionably-acting family member? Grateful because I gained an opportunity to sit with my negative feelings, extend lovingkindness, and choose emotional regulation.

• That one trip with friends that ended in a way I’m not the most proud of? Resulted in some clarity and self-compassion.

No shame, no blame, no regrets.

I’m a huge fan of the “take what you love and leave the rest” mentality.

Everything isn’t for me, but I can find something for me in everything.

We’re all complex - taking no less than 10 personality tests in the past 15 years has opened my eyes to that! We can’t be defined by a single letter or metric.

In different seasons we find ourselves passionate about different things.

And for some of us, yes, even coloring inside the lines can be one of many things that lights us up.

In every opportunity I try to cling to my values, my strongly-held beliefs, my support system, and my inner compass. As well as the strength from remembering everything I’ve been through - what I loved and what I didn’t.

Because in a world where I can be anything, it’s really hard not to lose track of myself.

Not only are the opportunities before us vast, but sometimes it seems that every person we encounter is trying to make us into something, mold us with their own ideologies, or force a program or path upon us.

We all need a pause. A quiet moment. A chance to remember who we are, clarify what we want, and decide where we are going.

I’ve finally found myself at a point where I’m not afraid to look someone in the eyes and say, “I don’t need you to like me.” Life is a bit too important to be trying to spend my energy fitting someone else’s narrative for me. And that’s me living unbridled.

Because at the end of the day, in all our yeses, no’s and maybe-later’s we find ourselves - and the love we always needed was here all along.

I take joy in my choices however wild and contradictory they may seem. My unique passions for life and self expressions are honestly my own, in ways that no one else posesses.

And I relish in yours, too.

Our paths don’t have to look at all similar and that’s what I absolutely love about this whole thing.

So, how are you showing up for your one wild and unbridled life?

-Jessica

*source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary