Do you ever place yourself in situations where you are available for hype?

If this sounds confusing, let me explain. Do you put yourself out there in front of people, in a supportive environment, and then actually receive their encouragement and praise? Without pushing it away or putting yourself down? Don’t do that, boo. I know that it can feel uncomfortable if you don’t believe yourself to be as awesome as they say. But it’s all in the eye of the beholder, right? Whatever we do is subjective, colored through the perspective of others. If they love it, let them love it.

I recently took a short, 3-session poetry workshop. I’ve written for a long time, but I never take writing classes. I’ve never had a supportive writing community – and now I feel so foolish that I’ve missed out on it all these years! It’s amazing to be in a room full of other like-minded creatives who want you to shine your brightest. I felt so loved – and hyped up.

When I read a poem for everyone, I felt super nervous – I don’t share my poetry often. Not only that, we’d just gotten a prompt and written it in 20 minutes. It didn’t feel like my best – but the response was so authentically enthusiastic! It really brought my self-confidence up.

Then, the next week, we sat one-on-one with two other people and read our poetry. Not only one, but both of the people I was paired with, told me that they had hoped they would get me. What? I didn’t even know what to say. I’ve never felt like my poetry is all that special, but something about it impacted them – so I took the compliment, with giddy delight. I accepted the love that I would’ve not long ago denied.

I’m still feeling so gooey inside about this – something that probably seemed small to them made a huge impact on my confidence in sharing my words. I am grateful for their honesty and loving encouragement. I wish this workshop could last forever. It’s the best part of my week.

I’m starting to let myself believe that I’m worth the hype.

Look – if it’s happening, you deserve it. It’s that simple. Let it be simple. Let yourself receive. You probably spend a good chunk of your life spreading love and encouragement to others. Let it come back to shine light on you for a change. You are so worthy of the hype!

You won’t always get encouragement and support in life, so let yourself enjoy it fully when you do. Sending you love.