Another installment in the series of posts of the WCWW scholarship contest winners and runners-up! Today’s post is written by Alexia Petrakos, one of the five scholarship winners. Enjoy!

There is nothing more important than remembering who you are.

You knew when you were born. You knew who you were when you were 3 and running through the grass and screaming and laughing and playing.

You knew who you were right up until school. And that’s when they made you forget.

At 5 or 6, your world changed. People you didn’t know expected you to sit up straight, stop talking, pay attention, write your letters just so, color inside the lines, don’t wander off, sit still.

And people you love and adore started echoing those people you don’t know. Pay attention. Do your homework. Don’t daydream. Quit acting out. Focus. You can’t do that for a living!

And you forgot.

They expected you to be just like them. Because that’s all they knew.

And what they knew was to succeed in life you need to conform, to become like everyone else, to not make waves and be obedient and quiet. To fit in the machine like a cog.

But the machine is breaking down, spitting out cogs like watermelon seeds.

People are trying to get back into the machine but there’s no place for them anymore. They don’t know the only way to succeed now is to get back to who they once were, to who they really are.

You need to remember who you are. You are not a cog. You were never meant to be a cog. And the only way to live and thrive now is to be yourself. Truly yourself. 

Excavate the you that was at 4 or 5. Before they got to you. Before they made you forget.

Find the dreamer, the dancer, the insect-collector, the star-gazer, the artist that was shoved in a box years ago.

Find you again. Remember who you are deep down inside. Remember your original design. Because you were designed for a greater purpose than machinery.

The minute you discover, re-discover who you really are, that’s the minute you become yourself again. That’s the minute you’re open to the possibilities. That’s when you are you again.

The dreamer. The doer. The reader. The philosopher. The comic. All the things they said wouldn’t pay the bills is what you need now to keep you afloat.

And when enough people remember who they are, the world will change for good. It’s changing some now with the few that have remembered. They’re the ones who are opening eyes and ears to new possibilities.

But they can’t make you remember. They can show the way, but you have to do the work.

You have to remember. You have to clear the years of disapproving stares and shaking heads and fingers and you-can’t-do-thats and how-will-you-ever-make-a-living and a-good-secure-job-is-the-only-way-to-go.

And that’s not easy.

I know.

I’ve rediscovered that I’m a dreamer, a creator, a teacher. And the possibilities are endless. I see them because I’m myself again. Because I remembered.

I want to change the world. Starting with me. Starting with remembering and reminding myself of who I am.

I want to help others remember.

In the remembering is truth. And with truth comes freedom.

Hi. I’m Alexia. I call myself “eclectic” because all the other words for how my brain works range from scary sci-fi reference to frou-frou woo-woo silliness. Although I’m all for silliness, just not that brand.

Anywho, I do lots of things. Drives my Mom and husband crazy, but I’m really just a chip off the ol’ Dad. I write, paint, make books (binding, that is), do web-by stuff like WordPress, teach, dream, read just about anything but sci-fi and fantasy are my favorites.

I’ve recently discovered that I’m quite good at telling others what they need to do next and figuring out plans and strategies and stuff like that. I, however, cannot do this for myself. Cobbler. Shoes. Yep.

My current business escapades include WordPress, Blog & Social Media coaching at WPChick, bookbinding & other arty stuff at ARRRT!, and general bloggy stuff.