Backstage or in the spotlight?

'So, that one is coming in,' he says and then there remains a long but pleasant silence. He is visibly impressed by his own discovery and is still searching for words. We've only known each other for half an hour online but I sense connection. For me it is Friday afternoon and I do have more time, but for him on the other side of the Atlantic it is morning now, so before he starts lecturing we make a follow-up appointment and close with 'have a nice weekend' and 'work them today.

'What was it like again?' he asks when we meet again two weeks later. Smiling, I refresh his memory: 'I was curious about the person and professional behind your LinkedIn profile so had invited you to connect and get acquainted. You then replied "How can I say no to that, when you also have a lighthouse behind your profile picture? :)" and something happened to you when we talked about the light of the lighthouse last time; a solid constant signal to guide ships far away at sea to a safe harbor even in storms and dark times. What was that if I may ask?'

He tells me that within the safe walls of the lecture hall he feels all the freedom to share his expertise in his own way, and is appreciated for it. During our previous conversation, he realized that the light of any lighthouse reaches much further than that. So if he wants to reach out to more people he also has something else to do, but he also experiences a kind of gene to write it down and share it with a larger audience, because who is waiting for that. Besides, he hates screaming posts and chest-beating on Social Media, so then you're not going to do that yourself are you?

There follows a list of what he admires in colleagues who write but can't do themselves, including the beautiful models a mutual acquaintance of ours makes. 'Do it at your time and especially in your way,' I try gently. It doesn't sink in; he continues to reason why it doesn't make sense, even though I can see by everything in him that he would love to. My intuition tells me that this man really has something interesting to share. I would like to buy his book right now, even though there is not a letter on paper yet.

His reservedness touches me and is recognizable for me. I tell him that I once decided that I am at my best in the backstage to whisper things to others as a modest contribution to make them shine in the spotlight. And for a very long time that place was right for me, I learned a lot there and still do every day. All that experience I now love to share with more people than I can ever train and coach myself. That's why I started publishing blogs years ago, and why my first MeGaZin (a colorful book full of inspiration, facts, practical explanations and experiments) will be published in early 2024. 

I tell him how nice that writing is, still safely behind the scenes. But if I stay there my readers won't see me, and as long as I keep whispering, they won't hear me either. So there is only one thing to do: take the stage myself - stand in the spotlight - to make people attentive. But in my very own way, not a well-oiled marketing machine like the one in our allergy, but simply by giving away bits of content from my heart to inspire others. It feels naked and vulnerable to be so openly enthusiastic about something of your own, but the reactions are heartwarming and give me the confidence to continue. 

This conversation has been some time ago, but every time I doubt 'who is waiting for another post from me', I think back to this and to the light of the lighthouse, which is always on and reaches far to be visible even to the unknown ships far away at sea. 

With my light I also want to inspire unknown people far away and that is why I wrote this MeGaZin and why I go on stage more often.

And if I am honest, it suits me well now to switch places and I enjoy both working behind the scenes and being in the spotlight myself! So, it's not an or but an and for me! At what place(s) will you be at your best?