Be A Guiding Light

By Jim Koury

Our nation during the Trump years, and to a certain extent still because of the foul man and his evil minions, was in a very dark place. America’s promise and its aspiration to become a more perfect union were put on hold due to the worst presidential administration this country has ever experienced. Darkness shrouded a once-proud people who took pride in America’s stature as the beacon of light and hope that all looked to for inspiration and guidance. The election of Joe Biden and his subsequent inauguration as our 46th President on January 20, 2021 lifted that shroud of darkness that encapsulated our spirit and our vision to see a more optimistic future based upon the American ideals we have cherished for generations.

At Joe Biden’s inauguration, there was indeed a surprise. Toward the end of the ceremony, a young woman named Amanda Gorman presented a powerful poem to a nation eager to move forward from the darkness. What an inspiration she was. One line struck me when she stated, “There’s always light if only we are brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.” We must all collectively reignite the light of our nation and move boldly and bravely forward to shine it brightly where it does not exist.

To collectively reignite the light of our nation, we must first ignite our own. If we cannot shine a light to illuminate our path and purpose, how can we do so as part of a grander, brighter light that will impact our nation for generations and help move it forward to become a more perfect union? As Ms. Gorman said, “We must be brave enough to see it.”

For whatever reason, many of us think we do not have a light within us to help others ignite theirs. As we live and begin to be beaten down by our daily challenges, we subliminally withdraw within ourselves and shroud the light meant for us to share with our fellow humans who are struggling. At times, we tend to lose our courage to do what we have to do to move forward, let alone help someone else do so. However, in many instances, the best way to move forward and find our courage is to help others find theirs. When we help others realize their potential, it empowers us to dig even deeper within ourselves and throw gas on what we know is within us to help even more wandering souls find their way to their destination of greatness.

How do we discover and ignite our light? Sometimes, it takes a challenge or a meaningful event to encourage us to see what we have hidden. In my case, I would have to say coming out was one of my first watershed moments. It was where I discovered my light and how it was so important to shine it brightly to help others discover theirs. I found a purpose: to move forward in my life’s journey of discovery and help others set course on theirs.

We grow in our skin by having the courage to change our destiny. Often, part of this learning process and encouraging our resolve to move forward is to help others fit into their skin. I started Diversity Rules Magazine as a way to do this. By producing something visible and tangible, queer individuals would know that there were others like them and give them the fortitude they needed to accept themselves for who they were. I hoped that it would empower them to believe that being queer was not abnormal or strange and was simply a reflection of our true essence. Diversity Rules Magazine achieved that end and still does so in some form or fashion today.

As each of these watershed moments happens, they move us closer to our destiny. In my case, I evolved to the point where I dared to write a book about all my insecurities, my vulnerabilities, and of course the victories hidden within the many challenges I faced in my evolution to where I am today. My book “Unredacted” was another one of those watershed moments that I saw as a beacon of light to help others understand themselves and to realize that the shit they did during their lives was not out of the ordinary but simply part of their journey to becoming a better person, who could impart their wisdom to others. I wanted people to understand that their past should not be a shackle that imprisons them but a learning experience to be embraced and not hidden to help them grow and learn about themselves. While we cannot be prisoners of our past, we must embrace and accept it to move forward to bigger and better things. If we constantly live in fear of what we did, it will act as a constant regulator on our efforts to unleash the power within us to be one of the collective lights that will move our nation forward to a better place.

I know many things in my book were rather raw and stark, but I felt there was a need to expose those things and bring them to the fore. I experimented with much in my life, and to many reading my book, some of the dabblings I undertook would seem immoral and shocking. Am I saying that everyone should cruise rest areas, and tea rooms, do amateur porn, and be male escorts? Of course not. However, my purpose in exposing these rather sordid components of my past was to let people know that their past did not matter. Their past should not impede moving forward, gaining knowledge, and helping others by imparting their experiences from their own lives. My purpose in publicly pronouncing those parts of my past that many would be mortified over if people found them out was to let people know they need to be who they are. They should not apologize for who they are or what they did. Folks need to live their lives for themselves and not for someone else. I wanted people to see that they could embrace their past and still live on their terms, despite what others may think. There will always be judges. It is our duty and obligation to ignore them because they should have no control over us.

Our nation is a collective of individuals, some of whom, as we have seen during the last eight years, are not nice. Our duty as individual lights is to shine the beacon of truth and justice to others, but we cannot do so until we are comfortable with our truths. We cannot emit truth if we are hiding our truth. That is the light I wish to impart to others. Live your truth no matter how painful or embarrassing one may think it is. It is vital to remember that it is YOUR TRUTH and no one else’s. By embracing your truth, you can help others who have experienced the same things embrace their truth and become better humans, which we desperately need in this fucking crazy world of ours!

As Amanda Gorman said, “There’s always light if only we are brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.” Our truth is our light. Be brave enough to embrace it and share it. Our truth can touch many lives. A critical thing to remember is that being brave enough to impart the light of our truth will impact others in ways we may never know. If it were not for us being brave enough to be the light others need to illuminate the path before them, they might never leave the darkness that enshrouds them. Be the light others need to see until they ignite their light to guide them forward and thus help others find their way.

Jim is the author of two books, Unredacted, and Soul Journey, and also publishes an online publication, Diversity Rules Magazine. He resides in Upstate New York in the city where he was born, with his dog Lina and cat Critter.

Jim’s Author Page
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