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Love this! As a recovering goody-two-shoes, it's refreshing to see someone express the relationship between shame and creativity so clearly.

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Thanks, Dan! So glad you enjoyed it. Recovering goody-two-shoes unite! ;)

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I was browsing in your archives and found this beautiful article. Thank you. In the past, I could relate to not trusting myself enough to express my "bad" sides. I wanted to be accepted and loved, but prioritizing this over being ourselves paralyzed me.

In the book "the Courage to be Disliked" the writer explains that it's in essence not our responsibility for others to like us. We can be a "good" person (whatever that might mean), but others will always have their own opinion about us. We can't control this, how hard we might try.

In the past I also wanted to keep up a perfect image of myself. After I went through a brain surgery to cure my epilepsy, this all changed. Having confronted my mortality, I could not play the "theater show" anymore. I saw it as a complete waist of the valuable time we have in this life.

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Thanks so much for sharing, Danique! I'm inspired by your story, and I couldn't agree more. I've heard great things about that book, too.

Keep doing you and being yourself! Not only is it the best way to use your valuable time in this life, it's also a gift to others who will be inspired by your example.

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So beautifully written and timely. Have revisited this 3+ times since you sent it. Thanks for writing this, Brooks.

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Thanks my friend! So glad to hear it :)

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