There’s this friend that I deeply care for. He’s one of the most energetic, magnetic people I know. The thing that initially drew me to him was his powerful willingness to filter and say no to the things that weren’t aligned with his vision. And like me, he had this raging desire to be free, to live his most vibrant, beautiful, magnetic life possible. We sporadically catch up on our respective journeys and share our lessons with one another, and one of the things I often hear from him is how important it is to follow his heart over checking other people’s boxes. Inspired me to write this.

There’s this emerging pressure in society to learn how to filter and get better at saying no.

Emerging from this pattern is a generation so focused on filtering and rejecting that they sometimes lose sight of one of the most beautiful truths—if we say yes to the right things loud enough, all the wrong things dissolve. If we keep choosing the path that makes our hearts sing, we’ll stop making room for anything else. That’s some of the deepest magic in life, and the people who see that are some of the most magical people I know.

When we get so good at filtering, we end up filtering it down to just ourselves. And despite how remarkable we are, we’re creatures of connection, and just being connected with ourselves is not enough. At least not for me—but to be deeply connected to myself, to the universe, to the world and creatures we share this universe with, that’s where my freedom lies. This is the magic of boldly saying yes and making room for beautiful, unexpected surprises.