The only overnight success I am witnessing lately are the overnight oats that I have been eating religiously.
I stumbled upon a TikTok the other day about the artist Chappell Roan and how it took her 10 years to become the success she is today. They particularly said something along the lines of, “That’s why she is more ready than ever to receive the success she currently has.” I don’t know much about her, but I do know from videos I have seen of her performing live that she exudes an inner confidence and stage presence that is truly mesmerizing and unlike many artists that are popular today.
This got me thinking: What if I am in year two of becoming an overnight success? Maybe I am in year eight, or maybe I’m at the pregame part where I haven’t even scratched the surface of what I can bring into this world. You know all those stories and statistics about famous artists and actors and how they didn’t reach the height of their success until a later age? Those stories are always so compelling because they make us humans feel less alone. You see this insanely successful figure, and for a second you dare to dream that you can also get there with patience and hard work. Now, I’m not saying it’s not true—it can totally happen. However, the feeling is hard to sustain when most social media platforms, books, and movies constantly feed us ideas of how we should be XYZ and impose a bunch of other insane expectations that come with being alive. Let alone if you are a woman, and much worse if you are a woman of color in the US, or a first-generation immigrant, or a single mom or dad. There’s always all this pressure to be at the top, and how fucking exhausted are we all?
This is part of the reason why I am so hard on myself, why I compare myself to others, and why I fear the future unless it looks a certain way. Enough, brain, give me a break.
For today, I will say this: I actually don’t care that much. Just for today, I will shout that what makes me the most successful version of myself to date is my ability to love. To love the flowers, to love my body, to love my insecurities, to love my shadow, to love my people, to love the stranger on the street who gave me a nice smile. That will be enough. Taking the time to recognize I exist on this floating rock that is rotating as we speak. To recognize I am trying my best. To recognize that I will never please everyone, so I might as well please myself. And the rest will be outside noise.
For today, I won’t wonder where I am in the timeline of utter success. I will just pretend that I am here. Because if life gets better and better, then that is a plus. And if it gets tough, well, good thing I am recognizing what makes me successful today. Part of me hopes, as I take it day by day, that we make a big deal about the little things as much as we do with the big things. Oh, you worked out for the first time this year? What an amazing accomplishment. You have been consistently taking care of your skin? Go off, queen/king. Let’s hold on to those moments because it is through those that we prove to ourselves how capable we are of taking care of ourselves first and loving ourselves through the simple, mundane things in life.
I’ll leave with a quote I read on the oracle card I pulled today: “What the caterpillar calls the end, the master calls the butterfly.”
Happy Sunday!
With love,
e
Sleepy Awakening 