Sandi L Boucher uses coloring inside the lines as a metaphor for how social labels and stereotypes confine us. After ten years of domestic abuse, she reclaimed her identity and now urges viewers to question inherited descriptions of themselves and choose or remove the box that defines them.
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If there's one thing I learned a long time ago, it's the reality that if you want to be an empowered, marginalized person, in my case, an empowered indigenous person, then you have to ignore what mainstream says about you, thinks about you, gossips about you, because their description of you is so often a stereotype and it's not true and it's definitely not empowering. But recently I was watching yet another video and I tripped over something that I think applies to everyone. It's a lesson that many of us received as children and I think many of us experience expanded it into our adult lives. And again, not empowering. We need to talk about coloring. So let's talk about it. Hi, everybody, it's Sandy Boucher here once again. I'm Red Thunderbolt, woman of the Loon clan, a proud member of Seine River First Nation in treaty theory Treaty 3 territory in Northern Ontario. Yes, I'm still moving. Yes, I've closed the door to my kitchen. Can you tell I've got all this old wood in my new place? Absolutely love it. There's a cat on the other side of that door. Hopefully Blue is not going to join us with her singing, but we're going to survive if she does. You don't get to see my messy kitchen anymore. Deck chair is still here. Picked up the garbage on the floor. We're improving. Still have a fat face. It'll get better. It's all good. That is not the topic of this video. We are talking about coloring. So again, I was watching an Ed Mylett video. I know you're shocked. Totally. And this one is called How Successful People Fulfill Their Full Potential. And what I'll do, I'll put the link in the video notes so you can go watch it. Highly recommend it. I follow edit. Awesome, awesome stuff. I don't know. It's awesome for me as someone who's trying to run a company and grow my company and make a difference and empower my team and empower my audiences. So if you're any of that, you're probably going to love his videos. Okay, so we're talking about coloring. And when he said is as children, we were often like, I mean, we're talking kindergarten. Jk, sk Grade one, Whatever. You are handed a picture to color. You were told to color inside the lines. Don't think about it, don't ask, don't create, don't expand, don't draw and change it into something else. Just color within the lines. You were told to stay within the lines. Okay, that's pretty Standard. But that picture was decided by someone else for you. They handed you to color the picture. So what if the picture they handed you was wrong? What if those voices of other people describing you, what if how they're describing you was wrong? What if whoever said it was wrong? What if you are not stupid? That's just what someone else said. What if you're not shy and people just said you were and you've heard that for so long, you've made it your identity. What if you became shy because. Because they told you you were? What if you're not really quiet, you that just fit the family tree and you were just handed that message. What if you're not afraid? What if you're not useless? What if you're not a pain? What if you're not a bother? What if all of that has more to do with the other person or the mood they were in than who you are? What if it's just something someone else handed to you? So of course Ed asked the question and I am incredibly curious to ask. What picture are you confined by? What lines are you staying within? Trust me, I stayed within. We often describe it as a box. And I lived in the box created by other people for many, many years. Remember, I'm a 10 year domestic abuse survivor. I have to remind my audience I got hair in my face here. I have to remind people often the Sandy you know now is not the Sandy I was for years. There were years I couldn't have attended a conference. I couldn't have had a conversation at a table, let alone stand on the stage in front of 400, 1500 people. This is who I became after I got out of the box. I tell people now it's been so long since I've been in a box, I don't even remember what that feels like. But that's not really true because I do. It felt confining. It felt defined by someone else. So if all the opinions of other people were gone, who would you choose to be? What is the picture you would choose to draw? How outgoing are you? How confident you are? How smart are you? How kind are you? How compassionate are you? How friendly are you? Because I know way too many people that describe themselves as introverts and they just want to be alone. And that's not who they are. That's who they became because of the world around them. What if there was no one else in the world? And I don't mean that in a scary I'm alone way, I mean that in a free way. What if you could be whoever you want to be and just accept it. And you know what? I bet for a lot of people, they would just want to be alone and quiet for like six months, a year, two years. Why? Because they're exhausted. And I would want them to have that time. But then I'd want to be there when that year or two years is up. To see who they really are. When they finally unpacked everything this world and other people's opinions have done to them. I am finally who Creator designed me to be. I am finally the 17 year old I was when I lived in a world where the only opinion that mattered to me was my. My dad's. And he believed in everything I was going to be. Now my dad's not here. Even though I know he still believes in me. But even more, I believe in me. I am here on purpose. And I have zero interest in being anywhere near anyone who tries to limit me. And I created this life. So can you. You. And if you just said you can't, I hope you recognize that's a box that you just drew around yourself. Think about it. It's time to draw your own box or no box at all. The choice is yours. But ask yourself, what picture were you handed? What picture are you still believing? And does it serve you? Do you really want to live inside that box? Food for thought. I think I'm gonna go back to cleaning my house or shoot a couple more videos. Time will tell. Until tomorrow. I love you. Take care. Bye. Bye.
