In a leadership course in seminary we had to develop a personal vision for our lives. What makes us who we are? What keeps us up at night and wakes us up in the morning? What is the “why” to my life?
Truth is number one for me. I don’t simply mean what’s right and what’s wrong, although that is a big deal. I mean capital “T” Truth. Truth stripped down, to the foundation. The basis of all things. God-given to man, Truth.
I have given my life to this Truth. To God. It drives who I am, what I do, and why I do it. Truth gives me direction, purpose, and life.
Tattoos are the outward representation of my purpose and calling. I’ve had ink on my skin since I was 17. Many of them are Truth permanently painted as a reminder or conversation starter. Some are simply art. They bridge the gap between the mainstream culture I live in and the person on the outside who can identify with the way I look.
I’ve always been about the people on the edge of our spaces—the people who are forgotten, overlooked, or avoided. I can almost find pride in being able to connect with those people. I am those people.
Transparency is the reason people stick around to see the Truth past the tattoos. There is a realness that people crave. We want to know that there is someone else out there thinking what we’re thinking or experiencing what we’re experiencing. It’s what bonds us as humans.
But, there is a difference between transparency and vulnerability. In the past, I have been fully transparent without much depth in vulnerability. There needs to be both. People will be drawn to transparency, but they stay for vulnerability.
Vulnerability has been the key to unlocking who I am. I fought it hard—I still do sometimes. But I know the choice to be vulnerable is worth it.
“Vulnerability” really messes up my alliteration, but isn’t that how it goes sometimes? Maybe it’s not about a clean, perfect life but a life open to interruption, mess, and ultimately, growth.
That quote we’ve all heard, “Be who you are because everyone else is taken,” is cute. But shouldn’t we be who we are because the world needs that exact person? As we are, but willing to move forward — willing to let God work in us and through us to reach the world around us. That’s what I want to be about.
