Eminem, one of my favorite rappers yes, is featured in one of Esquire‘s “What I’ve Learned” columns in its January issue. He says this:

“If you don’t overlook the fact of what you look like, then no one else will. I had a complex back then: if I get booed off stage, it’s probably because I’m white. There comes a time when you gotta stop thinking like that and just be you.”

I’ve said before that I don’t think anyone ever truly reveals all of themselves. Quiet ones secretly have a wild side, and those who are loud and boisterous have a very vulnerable side. Very few people get to view the full scope of another person, including close friends. It’s too scary. You don’t know what they do when they’re home alone or what they mutedly pine for. At some point in your life, though, being yourself becomes the most important thing in the world to you. Things you hated about you are now embraced and things you loved, proudly displayed. There’s less of a guise, less of a pretense, just you. This is what I’m after right now. Come as you are. And come from the heart.

Had to…