Say everything
Speaking freely, self expression—and saying it with love
Once in a while I get a really nice, crisp, clear message.
I’ve come to love these bits of intuitive energy bubbling up to the surface, and to know them as touchstones, reminders, guideposts, stars to steer by, and axioms that have accreted over time to form the foundation of my very own personal philosphy.
It feels like a clear message often emerges when it’s crystallized to the point of becoming obvious—and useful, and actionable—to my conscious mind.
“Say Everything” is what I got the other day.
Say Everything came up like a spark of freedom.
The part of me that wasn’t ready to speak, well, now he’s ready.
Change isn’t a conscious thing. I don’t really believe that I can just will my way to growth. It’s a combination of conscious steering and of unconscious digestion, integration and evolution. New pathways take time to grow—and then, suddenly, a flower appears at the end of a new branch.
Say Everything is just such a flourishing—a sign that some internal growth has progressed enough to throw off some beauty, as a marker, a symbol—and also to share.
Say Everything means…
Say what you really mean
Say it all, with love
Get to the heart of it
Give yourself the freedom to speak
Speak the truth
Say what comes to mind, in the moment
Start with the short version
Say what you feel
Let's hear it
Say what matters most
Speak freely
Express yourself
Be yourself
Just say it
Keep your head clear
Skip the preamble
Relax your inhibitions
Say Everything also means…
Don't hesitate.
Don't dissemble.
Don't censor yourself.
Don't over-explain.
Don't make excuses.
Don't apologize in advance.
Don't qualify.
Don't water it down.
Don't wait.
Don't hold back.
Don't carry it around.
If truth is a form of love—and I believe it is—then holding back is a form of lying. That’s why the truth requires the whole truth.
Instead of being so concerned with how someone might react, or with wordsmithing exactly the right way to say something, or with attempting to tailor what comes up for us to how someone else might receive it…
What if you just said it?
What haven't you said?
What do you wish you could say?
What would you say if you felt like you could just say it?
What if you had the courage to be disliked?
I learned a beautiful and simple technique from Robert A. Johnson’s Inner Work about how to bring the power of a symbol or message from the unconscious into waking life. Whether the message comes in a dream, an image, or a spark of imagination, we can make the message real by bringing it into the world in the form of a physical artifact.
In my case, I often like to wear my messages around on t-shirts as a way to directly embody my messages, and to see how other people react to them. This is what I mean when I say that Say Everything is a community project. None of these messages are entirely new to me or entirely new in the world, but they emerge from the collective unconscious at a particular time for a reason, and so I think it’s important to share them, to spread them around, to activate them.
It’s been a beautiful thing for me to see how certain other messages of mine have worked in the world at times, and so I’m interested to see what happens with this one—and most of all, and first of all, within my own self.
Further reading
Inner Work, Robert A. Johnson
The Courage to Be Disliked, Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga
Say Everything: A Memoir, Ione Skye
Questions for you
What does say everything mean to you?
How does (or would) actually saying everything (or closer to everything) make you feel?
What is something that you would like to say, if you could 'say everything?'
Do you ever find yourself holding back, editing, or censoring yourself?
Do you find yourself pre-qualifying, dissembling, or weakening your own statements?
Please do leave a comment—and click the little ♡ heart
👇🏻 right down there to let me know if you found this worthwhile.
And: I prepared this in advance, because someone is sure to comment about how there are times when it’s not appropriate to say _everything_. I know, I know. Of course, no single message or bit of philosophy is universally true or useful all the time. Of course there are times when you might not want to “say everything,” or when _everything_ might be too much for the moment. Whatever! A rejoinder is always possible, but that's precisely *not* the point here.
✌🏻
One thing I value greatly is when someone is DIRECT.
There is no greater show of respect for yourself and the other person when both of us are direct.
Most people have no idea how to do that because we were never taught that.