by For much of my life I have considered that not showing my expressions is better as I did not want people to take advantage of me. I considered that masking my expressions would be a sign of strength. However, now I realized that showing expressions can lead to exploitation but its not same as self-expression.
Self expression is simply expressing your true self with words, actions, facial expressions, clothes etc. It means giving our thoughts and emotions a healthy outlet instead of changing or canceling them to meet the expectations of others. It enables us to connect to ourself and know who we are. We become friends with ourself as we learn more about ourself.
We all know it, I knew it but we are under so much pressure of impressing others that we suppress who we actually are. In the process we become strangers to our own self. We want to write a catchy status, stuff our email with heavy words. We feign enthusiasm on things which are pretentious. We all start living in a reality show instead of our own life.
Such a scripted life leads to mental exhaustion and living in fear of missing out. We cannot differentiate between our on camera and off camera self. We become strangers to the only person whom we spend maximum time with – ourself. Life is not a number or a math problem. Its a journey where we explore and are free to express ourself. Its not a scripted movie. We need to express ourself through a channel like words, expressions, body-language, painting, writing, hiking, biking etc.
Importance of Self-Expression
Self expression leads you to stop living in fear and become more confident. We can better manage the expectations and reality. We don’t live a pretentious life hence become more open to taking risks and increase your resilience. The more we express ourself, we start understanding ourself and also others more deeply.
In the end, learn the difference between expressing ourself and impressing others. We don’t need to seek anyone’s approval to ask a question or find an answer. We need to discover the ‘why’ behind our existence and build a life around its answers. This all starts with self-expression
