The piece, Sovereign, was inspired by my muse, Cynthia Hansen Ellis and her journey with the shadow "Expected."
Dear Expected,
You were EXPECTED to fit in.
EXPECTED to be a specific way in your family.
EXPECTED to follow Midwest mores.
EXPECTED to follow all the rules.
EXPECTED to be happy about it all.
And EXPECTED to be what everyone thought & believed you should be.
You should be grateful, happy, content, because you had more than others and people did their best to mold you. At which point you became a master at doing all of these EXPECTED things to great success.
Living in these EXPECTATIONS and following the rules, made you very successfully financial, extremely popular and highly sought after in your little corner of the world. Only to realize one day that you weren’t happy, not at all healthy, and not feeling fulfilled.
Now you choose to surround yourself with people who are accepting unconditionally. You do things because you want to, not because you have to. You fill your life with things that keep a smile on your face, the joy in your heart and a feeling of peace in your soul.
–Cynthia Hansen Ellis