How many times have you wanted to speak a powerful message, or take powerful action, only to hesitate, and then withdraw…stepping back to soften the language or watering down the experience…so that you don’t offend someone?
I’m looking at the ten fingers on my two hands and I’m noticing that I don’t have enough digits to count my own experiences.
That was the old me.
As I am writing this article, I am feeling the old me whispering in my ear saying, “You don’t want to write this one this way…someone will not like it.”
The new me says, “That could happen even if I water it down. It has to be written.”
I actually hesitated to include this quotation in this article, because as I researched it, I was reminded of how misogynistic and racist the character who spoke it was in these movies.
Then I realized that this particular quote was powerful in its own right, and has nothing to do with the rest of this individual’s worldview.
You may be offended, or you may find empowerment in it.
Ultimately how you respond to it is up to you. I do not have control over that.
% Clint Eastwood as ‘Dirty’ Harry Callahan
There is a lot about this particular character that has not aged well in the past fifty years. In the current culture, he’s a symbol of toxic masculinity.
In Carl Jung’s work, Dirty Harry would be an element of shadow in the current male culture and energy.
And, as Jung noted, there is a massive power in the shadow when brought to light, understood, and harnessed. (If you don’t like Jung, read Debbie Ford’s work on the subject. She’ll say the same thing.)
What if there was an element of this character, and his ability to act in a pure, uncensored way, that all of us could find within ourselves to live fully and authentically?
How could you harness that power to express yourself and your message unapologetically?
Don’t hold back.
If the expression “haters gonna hate” is true, you might as well give them something to hate, rather than reserving your light.
About Your Columnist
Daniel Olexa is a featured columnist for Women Lead, the official blog of Connected Women of Influence. Dan likes to say he coaches Dead People with a gift to bring them back to life by breathing new air into their life story, as they exhale what they no longer need. He is a 3-time Amazon #1 Bestselling author, life coach trainer, keynote speaker, award-winning hypnotherapist, holistic entrepreneur, and Transcendent Living coach serving international clients from his home base in the Los Angeles area.
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