It’s Validating to Empower People to Embrace Their Authentic Sparkle

Life is but a sunbeam caught within a mortal coil

Walter Rhein
Human Parts
Published in
6 min readDec 19, 2023

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Photo by Cristian Escobar on Unsplash

I’ve lived many lives in my almost five decades on this Earth. In one of my lives, I was so quiet that I could barely speak in public. Looking people in the eye was out of the question. Many of the things I wanted felt like they were beyond my reach.

At the time, that was a life of embarrassment and despair. However, I’ve come to think of those years with a certain fondness. I’m hesitant to say that shyness is something I’ve “overcome,” because that implies there’s something wrong with how I felt. I didn’t “overcome” those feelings because those feelings haven’t gone away.

They’re still in me. They still come out from time to time. I don’t fear or resent them. The only difference is that now, I’ve lived more lives and have more responses to choose from when I determine how to interact with the world.

As I waited for my daughter at the dentist’s office, a girl came in with her mom. She reminded me of myself when I was her age. The way she moved suggested she didn’t wish to be noticed so I discreetly turned away. Quite a few kids take on a form of camouflage. They wear loose fitting clothing that’s either brown or gray. Their hair is unkempt.

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Walter Rhein
Walter Rhein

Written by Walter Rhein

Certified English and physics teacher. Editor, journalist, illustrator and novelist. walterrhein@gmail.com

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