The Art of Not Performing

Lately I have been thinking about how many of us are living in a constant state of reinvention. New aesthetic. New vibe. New persona. And not because we are growing, but because we are hiding. Because somewhere along the way we learned to perform instead of exist.

Why is it so hard to be ourselves?
 Why is it so hard to believe that God sees us fully, the quiet parts and the messy parts and the beautiful contradictions, and still calls us loved?

Sometimes we forget that the life meant for us will never require us to audition.
 The people and the community and the family and the partner and the calling that are for us will never demand a mask. They will not ask for the watered down version of our personality. They will not need us to shrink our joy or mute our weirdness or pretend we care about things we do not.

Take a deep breath.
 Breathe in the truth that what is for you will not cost you your identity.

I have done a lot of inner work to release the grip of people pleasing. That constant hunger for praise and approval and applause never satisfies. It never affirms. It only trains you to perform harder.

Here is the truth.
 You cannot form deep relationships while living behind a curated version of yourself.
 People cannot love what they never get to see.
 You cannot blame the world for not knowing you when you refuse to introduce yourself.

It is not always them.
 Sometimes the distance and the loneliness and the lack of community come from our own unwillingness to show up as we are.

So here is the gentle challenge, the Sake’s Haus heart check.

Sit with yourself.
 Look in the mirror.
 Face the pieces you have tried to blur out or bury under aesthetics.
 Ask why you feel safer performing than being seen.

Then breathe again.

Allow yourself to be known.
 Allow yourself to be loved.
 Allow yourself to exist outside the performance.

The quirks you hide might be the exact things that make you magnetic.
 The parts you avoid might be the places God is trying to heal.
 The version of you that you have never introduced to the world might be the version that finally feels like home.

This is your invitation.
 Stop performing.
 Step into your real life.
 Let the people who are meant for you meet the real you.

With Love,

Sake <3