06/11/2025
Don’t label yourself as a ‘this’ or a ‘that’
Because nouns don’t give much room to grow
You see, you’re a verb: a great, big doing word
And there’s more you can do than you know
No, you’re not a teacher, a pilot, a dancer
‘Cause what if you want to do more?
To paint and to sing, create wonderful things
That you’ve never created before
And maybe you’ll dance whilst you’re painting
And maybe you’ll sing as you fly
But say you’re a singer and they won’t consider
Looking up for you in the sky
The problem of course is that when we are small
We’re asked “what will you be when you grow?”
And we’re made to decide what to do with our lives
When there’s so much that we’re yet to know
And then every decision we make from that point
Is to lead down the path we have picked
And it’s hard to retrace, redirect and to change
When we’ve already boxed ourselves in
So we sit in this box with a label
And believe this is where we must stay
Then we sit very still and endure it until
We feel like we might soon suffocate
But you know there’s a way to escape it:
Lift the lid and then break down the walls
And then step right outside and perhaps you will find
There’s a whole world for you to explore
So when somebody asks “what do you do?”
Do not give them the noun of your work
See, we’ve all been convinced that our job is the thing
That defines us our place on this earth
But you’re destined for more than a label
And the roles by which you’ve been defined
You’re a who - not a what - and believe it or not
There’s so much you could do if you tried
So tear down your closed expectations
And the limits of who you can be
Just think outside the box where it’s safe to get lost
And you never know where it might lead
*****
Resource: Becky Hemsley 2022
Stunning artwork by Elisabeth on Earth
