I’ve been posting more on my personal page but this one shouldn’t get lost in the social media shuffle because I’ll probably need to read it again.

I asked my friends and family on my private page to give me the top three words that come to mind when they think of me. The above are the results. I thought it was a fun exercise that I had seen done in a few other spaces and I thought that it would be a good poor-man’s market research to come to an understanding of how others see me. It was fun and my friends and family gave me some great feedback (pessimistic is up there, they keep it real). The exercise helped me make some decisions on tone and delivery for my upcoming project and I am grateful that they will tell me what they think. That’s valuable.

Now I’m about to tell you how I almost got caught worrying about the wrong thing.

I was up late at night, like I usually am, and there was a tribute to Eugene Levy, one of my favorite comedic actors. His cast mates gave him his well deserved flowers and the word that kept flipping to the top was “Nice”. In his word cloud it would be the largest word. I don’t know him personally, but it appears to be true if you look at all the times he’s been interviewed.

So what, right? Nope, I started to sit and think about the exercise and realized that not a single person decided that “Nice” was in the Top 3 for me and that wasn’t even one of the words I picked for myself… What does that mean? It means I gave way too much time and energy into what someone else had to say.

What’s my point? At the end of the day people should worry about following their heart and passions that shine the light of their gifts onto the world. If your smile is your light, shine on. If your ideas are your light, keep shining. If your skill sets, work ethic, talent, or whatever are your light, then don’t let anything dim it. It’s good to be mindful of how you affect others because we live in a communal world and we impact one another. But the biggest question should be, what do you think about yourself? Why make yourself crazy running a comparison in the first place?

Let your light shine, and thrive anyway. I hope this helps someone else that’s thinking about how they show up in the world.

Speaking of showing up, the official Black Maggie Podcast is coming soon, go ahead and Subscribe, we’re taping now!!

I’m looking for music from independent creators that just want to let their light shine. I’m sending out interview requests to the people that I have on my mind for the various topics that I picked, but this is about building community so send in your thoughts.

Check out the Promo Trailer here and Submit your links/questions/ideas below!