You Are Not One Color, You Are A Masterpiece

You are not one color. You are not simply red, or blue, or yellow. You are not one-dimensional, not static or still, not always following the same set path. You are not just angry, or happy. Not one emotion or thought running through your head. The way you feel and act is continually shifting based on what happens to you, what decisions you make, what is emptying or filling or rocking your world.

One minute you want to be alone, the next you crave love. One minute you’re standing there, looking with excitement for the future…and then, suddenly, you just want to slow it all down and be a little kid again. In an instant, you think you know who you are, but then you realize you have no clue.

And though this is a crazy mess—to feel such opposing things, to forever be changing and questioning and wondering and even lost—isn’t it beautiful to realize you don’t have to know everything? Don’t have to be one thing? Don’t need to be stuck in a little box, shaped and labeled and frozen?

The truth is, you are not one thing. Not one color or person or idea or thought. Not one emotion or feeling or perspective or being.

The truth is, you are a masterpiece—ever-changing, ever-evolving—millions of colors and emotions and cells connected together to create you.

And I was reminded of this uplifting perspective in listening to a beautiful song by artist and songwriter Megan Davies, ‘Black and White,’ from her newly released EP, Bad Poetry.

“I’m never gonna be one thing
And I’m not making no apologies
Yeah I’ll keep painting outside those lines
Doesn’t have to be black and white
And I don’t know where my heart is
Or if it’s ever gonna hit that target
Whatever life I live is mine
Doesn’t have to be black and white”

I love these lyrics because they ring true for all of us. We’re not going to stay the same person. We’re not always going to know what we want, or where we’re headed. We’re sometimes going to be unsure, or unsteady, and that’s perfectly okay. Because we’re human, and that’s what being human is about—continual growth and discovery and ups and downs along the way.

What I love about Megan’s song is its relatability. Through powerful lyrics like “I’m pushing pulling every direction / fall and rise / but I’m moving” she reminds us that life is continuing all around us, often taking us down paths we may not have ever imagined ourselves walking. Sometimes we feel at home; sometimes we’re clueless, but in sharing that universal experience so beautifully and honestly, she reminds us that it’s okay.

It’s okay—to be wherever we are, to feel, to still be figuring it all out.

Davies began her career on YouTube, sharing mashups and covers to well-known songs. From there she transitioned to sharing her own music, pulling in over 1.1 million subscribers and 165 million views on YouTube alone, not to mention Spotify, where she’s at 211 million streams and counting!

“I always knew I wanted to be a part of creating,” Davies said, when talking about her transition from singing covers and producing music to actually writing and recording her own. In the past, she had seen herself as primarily a guitarist, but after sharing her songs and getting positive feedback, which snowballed into tons of views and shares, she realized that she wanted to be serious about her craft.

“I wanted to write something honest,” she said, about the creation of ‘Black and White.’ But when asked about the process, she admitted she struggled. “These things are real. I kept asking myself, ‘How do I write the rest?’”

But in working with co-writer Jason Walker, and pushing herself outside of her norm, she was able to tap into that vulnerable side and write lyrics that hit home, not only for herself, but for so many others.

“I wanted to give people a voice,” she said, “I wanted listeners to put themselves in the song. To feel and imagine their lives. I wanted them to sing in their heads and think it’s about them.”

And that’s exactly what ‘Black and White’ does—allows us to experience that universality of not really knowing who you are or where you’re going, but simultaneously realizing that it’s okay, healthy even, to be more than one thing.

“So I’ll stand up
Make my peace
With the choices
At my feet
It’s the drama the chaos
the unknown that sets me free.”

“Everybody is complex,” Davies said, when she talked about the writing process. When I asked her about some of her more vulnerable lyrics, for example, ‘Keep prayin’ for change then turn around and close my blinds,’ she said that putting the pen to paper was so difficult, but incredibly rewarding. “I struggled with social anxiety when I was younger. I had trouble connecting, was always anxious. Music has helped me to connect with people. And I found confidence in putting myself out there.”

My favorite line of the song is this: ‘And I wanna speak truth, but it’s easier to lie sometimes.’ I just love the brutal honesty. It hit home for me because, as a writer, sometimes it’s easier to want to sugarcoat your emotions, to make sense of them and package them all neat and organized instead of showing your mess to the world.

Davies’ words are a reminder that we all want to have things figured out, we all want to have the answers, we all want to have our lives put together—but it’s okay if you don’t.

It’s okay to be imperfect. It’s okay to be messy. It’s okay to flit back and forth with ideas and perspectives. It’s okay to not just be black and white.

Honestly, I think one of the most important things of this life is to remind yourself that you are human. You’re going to have selfish desires right alongside selfless ones. You’re going to search for love, but also crave your ‘aloneness.’ You’re going to be soft and strong. You’re going to want to grow up, but also stay young. You’re going to crave change, yet hope to stay the same.

You’re going to be more than one color, one idea, one person. And that’s beautiful.

Because you are an ever-growing, ever-changing, ever-becoming masterpiece.
So celebrate that.

Want more Megan? Check out: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Spotify.