{"id":1948,"date":"2025-05-13T16:57:51","date_gmt":"2025-05-13T16:57:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/karenessex.com\/?p=1948"},"modified":"2025-05-13T16:57:51","modified_gmt":"2025-05-13T16:57:51","slug":"become-who-you-are","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/karenessex.com\/?p=1948","title":{"rendered":"Become who you are."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cBecome who you are<\/em>\u201d is actually Nietzsche\u2019s directive, but I\u2019ve made it my life\u2019s theme \u2014 in both my work and my way of being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s the perfect rallying cry for my heroines \u2014 women who strip away expectation, status, and fear until what\u2019s left is the raw, radiant, authentic self. Become who you are<\/em> isn\u2019t just advice \u2014 it\u2019s an invite to raise the stakes and fearlessly face whatever obstacles are thrown your way. I believe that this is what literature can offer: not just escape, but recognition. A reminder that claiming one\u2019s full self \u2014 intellect, ambition, desire \u2014 is the most dangerous and divine thing a woman (or man) can do. But it always comes with challenges and risks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently, I apologized to my ex-husband (still a dear friend) for quitting my high-paying job as an executive in the entertainment industry to pursue writing. \u201cThat was selfish of me,\u201d I said. I\u2019d felt guilty for years for suddenly depriving our family of a big chunk of income, just so I could follow my bliss. \u201cNo, Karen, it wasn\u2019t selfish,\u201d he replied. \u201cIt was brave.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His words were a balm to my soul \u2014 an affirmation that following my path, becoming who I was destined<\/em> to be, no matter how difficult or risky, was worth every moment of doubt, every reinvention, every late-night wrestling match with the blank page and the taunting voices in my head telling me that what I wanted to accomplish was impossible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And so, dear reader, this is my wish for you: That you continue to become who you<\/em> are. That you take whatever bold steps are necessary to evolve into the highest, truest version of yourself \u2014 even when the world resists, and even when it\u2019s scary and lonely. Even when you might be feeling a little bit selfish for becoming the person you know yourself to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re looking for a guide along the way \u2014 a woman who risked everything, loved deeply, ruled fiercely, and claimed her destiny with unapologetic power \u2014 may I humbly suggest Kleopatra. She\u2019s the embodiment of this journey. And her story might just help illuminate yours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Best wishes on your journey of becoming.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cBecome who you are\u201d is actually Nietzsche\u2019s directive, but I\u2019ve made it my life\u2019s theme \u2014 in both my work and my way of being. It\u2019s the perfect rallying cry for my heroines \u2014 women who strip away expectation, status, and fear until what\u2019s left is the raw, radiant, authentic self. Become who you are isn\u2019t just […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1949,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/karenessex.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/karenessex.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/karenessex.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karenessex.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karenessex.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1948"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/karenessex.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1948\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1950,"href":"https:\/\/karenessex.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1948\/revisions\/1950"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karenessex.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/karenessex.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karenessex.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karenessex.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}