Upon arriving for the holiday stay at my parent’s home, I walked into my room and immediately, a sense of who I am returned. The feeling I got was not about my childhood pictures, pageant titles, or my old cheerleading uniforms in the closet. It came from the core of my being, and my existence as a product of my community. It was not about a mere identity, but about the feeling of knowing and accepting all facts about myself.
Not too long ago, I found a picture of a quote among the many “picture quotes” floating around Facebook: “You decide every moment of every day who you are and what you believe in. You get a second chance, every second.” Right then, I began to think about what I believed in. What did I love? What would I fight for? Since moving away from my hometown, I have moved farther away from truly embracing my most personal beliefs, hobbies, and unique characteristics. And, what was most clear was that I wanted those things back. Emphatically, they were the things that made me who I am, and I had lost many of them in a genuine attempt to “define myself” while attending college. I now realize that no matter how far away I get from home, I can’t stop being myself, nor denounce the great things that have shaped me. I can only refine the elements that are already there.
So, it’s as good a time as any to claim 2012 as the year to embrace your own sense of knowing: Know what you believe; know what makes you happy, and do it; know what feels right and be it. More than any other, 2012 is your time to embrace a new you, even if it means going back to the things you love about the old you!
Raynette K.Palmer
©2012 Davion Alston
