I grew up in ballet from the spry age of 3. I was cast in a constant fire molding me into what others thought I could be, and often what they thought I should be. That fire was made up of discipline, order, structure and agreement.

Discipline to keep me following a particular path, even when I didn’t feel like it. Order to make sense of the path and instill its importance over any other to follow.

Structure so that I did not have to think of the how’s – they were already provided to and for me. Agreement between my place as student, and the other’s place as teacher so I would continue to submit to their authority over my own and to their expertise over my own.

This fire is found many places in humanity. It is found in the arts. In sports. In the military. It’s found in career disciplines that require what we call “excellence.” This fire is required when we speak of “hard work.”

There is nothing wrong with the fire… And there are wounds sealed in that fire. Nervous systems are imprinted by concepts used and by life events that transpire within the realms of the fire.

We resolve within ourselves that this kind of heat is what’s required to make a “diamond.” But what if our qualification of the diamond borne through this fiery heat is just an idea handed down to us?

What if we didn’t have to work to “become” something else other than what we already are?

What if who we are is enough from the very day we are born?

What if we are born diamonds? What then?

Can we allow for the importance of this idea?