Did You Know that there's a Tunnel under Ocean Boulevard?

I heard this Lana Del Rey song this morning for the first time, and it hit me right between the eyes.  It's such a beautiful metaphor for what I am going through right now, and I've been haunted by the song's message for several hours now, particularly the first verse, which immediately caught my attention.

"Do you know that there's a tunnel under Ocean Boulevard?
Mosaic ceilings, painted tiles on the wall
I can't help but feel somewhat like my body marred my soul
Handmade beauty sealed up by two man-made walls"

That is precisely how I feel about myself most of the time:  nothing much to look at on the outside, but possessing an inner beauty that is just dying to be seen.  A diamond in the rough, but the rough is so hard to break away so I can let that beauty see the light of day.  

To use yet another metaphor, I think a lot of us have developed something of a callus around that inner part of ourselves.  The friction of careless words spoken to us by others or by ourselves creates a protective barrier to our softer skin below, preventing us from being hurt further, but at the same time preventing us from allowing that softer part to be seen and known.  And it's that softer part that is the beauty and the light of our souls, of our true selves, that longs to share that beauty and light with the world, if only the world will accept it.

And, of course, that is our big fear--that the world will not accept what we have to share as we lead them down to the tunnel under Ocean Boulevard.  It's a regular art gallery down there, but we are afraid our masterpiece won't be appreciated; or it doesn't have a place in the world; or that we'll get a bad review.  Or maybe we just don't recognize that what we are IS a masterpiece.  

I had a Zoom interview awhile back.  My prospective employee was talking about motivation, and mentioned their inner work in reminding themself that they are worthy.  I looked at them, and right into the camera said, "You are worthy.  You are worthy.  I've known you for five minutes, and I can tell you, you are worthy."  If I can say that to someone I didn't even know existed five minutes before, why can't I say it to myself, whom I have known for 52 1/2 years?  Why am I still struggling to remember this?

Reader, you are worthy.  If you believe in God, you are God's child, God's creation, and you're valuable because God made you.  If you don't believe in God, you are the only you that exists, and you are more valuable than anything else on earth, because you are more rare than anything there is.  You have beauty inside you.  You have light inside you.  The world needs more beauty and more light, and sharing yours makes the world a better place.  

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