The Fear of Being All that We Can Be

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same." - Adapted from Marianne Williamson.

"When I was ten years old, I saw "Rocky" for the first time and anybody from my era would tell you that this type of movie triggered everything for them. I didn't know anything about boxing when I was that age. But I knew what this guy was going through and I had his back. There's a lot of that in this story. The idea of not being afraid of that thing you do the best, not permitting circumstance to confine you but to find your voice and your talent. Own it and to be proud of it and do it. It's not a story about learning how to spell but about a kid who learns what she's good at, becomes proud of that and doesn't want to hide it anymore. It's overcoming the fear of being great, before you can be great." - Doug Atchison, writer/director of Akeelah and the Bee.

"He began to have a dim feeling that, to attain his place in the world, he must be himself, and not another." - W.E.B. Dubois