I was asked to write about courage from the woman who just might be the bravest person I know. I laughed at first and then sat back with a big 'woah' of gratitude for being recognized as courageous from someone like my friend Heidi.

Thinking of myself as courageous is new territory for me - but understanding true courage is also new for me. I thought I had not been courageous all of these years because underneath this character who was engaging in radical self-expression regardless of the consequences, I was terrified.

There has been, and still is as a matter of fact, a lot of fear in my life. What is different about today is that the fear is no longer in charge. Every day I have a chance to choose fear or love - every turn, every moment there is always a choice of love or fear. I didn't know it back then, but as I was the high school teenager cutting my hair into mohawks and turning them fuchsia and blue, I was choosing love for my eccentrics and expression rather than fear of how I might be perceived by my peers. The fear was ever present, but the action stood the same.

There have been so many fears that I thought were reflections of true danger, but have merely been a reflection of living without trust, that everything is always okay - I am loved, fed, given shelter, water and breath ALWAYS. With this understanding there is nothing to fear.

I am currently learning the loving side of a fearful coin - I am a gender queer person who has held many beliefs of how to keep myself safe. I have been taught to avoid danger through changing my behavior or modifying my body. I am currently traveling the country, living out of a tour van, going to places I was told to avoid, talking to people I was told would reject me and engaging in a level of honesty in spirit and body that I never could have imagined. I have not been met by opposition or bigotry like I had feared - by stepping out of the deception of fear and walking with love for my authentic self I am finding that we are all creatures with the same needs. Food, water, shelter, breath and love. I am here to give and receive all and with that there is nothing to fear.

Happy trails and much love y'all,

Skye

Skye is a guest writer for The Authenticity Project