Permission to Be You

My Contrarian Letter on Wild Liberation

Dear fellow Wanderers, Seekers, and Glorious Contradictions….

If I waited around for permission to be me, I’d still be nodding politely in some soul-draining Zoom room trying to impress a panel of people I don’t even vibe with.

But here’s the off-the-cuff, Tao-soaked truth….

……I stopped needing approval right around the time I realized nobody else could verify the authenticity of my soul. Not the DMV. Not LinkedIn. Not even my favorite barista.

I am—without apology—a nomadic, Taoist-fueled, urbane renaissance soul.

I live like a Thelonious Monk jazz score—unpredictable, soulful, and full of improvisational genius.

Part philosopher. Part provocateur. Part polymath. All real.

Some days I’m decoding the I Ching while walking under majestic blue Colorado skies. Other days you’ll find me in a bookstore imagining a podcast co-hosted by Zhuangzi, James Baldwin, and some qi-channeling mystic I met in a Chinese tea shop. In that scenario, I’m both the guest and the host.

That’s what giving yourself permission actually looks like.

Not a TED Talk.

Not a course in personal branding.

Not another self-help bullet point on “stepping into your power.”

Just a wild-hearted yes to who you already are.

The Wisdom Bomb That Woke Me Up

Lao Tzu, in chapter 33, drops the kind of eternal truth that makes my pen tingle:

“Knowing others is intelligence. Knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power.”

Let that settle.

We’ve been trained to chase influence, accumulate degrees, gather digital nods from strangers we’ll never meet.

But when was the last time we actually sat with ourselves and asked, “Who am I—unfiltered?”

Not the curated version. Not the performative one.

The real one. The at-home walking around naked you. The bruised-and-blessed one.

Me, I stopped trying to impress people when I realized this….my soul didn’t come here to be understood. It came here to be expressed.

Burn the Permission Slip

You don’t need to impress your old boss.

Or that ex who couldn’t handle your fire (yea Kerri, I’m speaking to you)

Or your family members still hoping you’ll “get a real job.”

☄️ Let me tell you this straight from the qigong-infused gut:

Your life is not a group project.

You don’t need to shrink to fit.

You don’t need to justify your contradictions.

You don’t need to brand your authenticity.

👇

You’re not a product.

You’re a frequency.

And when you radiate your truth—without dilution, without apology—something magical happens:

The right people find you.

The wrong ones drift off.

And the universe starts echoing you back to yourself.

And Now a Word from the I Ching

The ancient Book of Changes—the I Ching—backs this up in more poetic terms.

Hexagram 22 (Pi - Grace) reminds us:

True beauty comes not from embellishment, but from authenticity.

No extra polish required. Just presence.

And Hexagram 10 (Lu - Treading) shows us that walking your own path requires grace, confidence, and reverence—especially when the road is uneven and the world is watching.

🚶‍♂️

In Taoist terms, this means walk your walk.

Even if it’s weird.

Even if it’s wild.

Even if it looks like a jazz solo no one else can follow.

Because eventually… they will. Or they won’t.

Either way, you’re free.

What I’m Building (and Inviting You Into)

Everything I create—this newsletter, my book-in-progress, the interviews I conduct—isn’t about self-promotion. It’s about soul liberation. It’s about offering a spiritual bridge for others to walk across.

I write not just to express—but to awaken.

To remind you that your weirdness is your wisdom.

That your contradictions are your compass.

That your voice isn’t too much—it’s medicine.

So if you’re reading this wondering whether to leap, quit, pivot, unfollow, show up, or finally share what’s been living in your chest all this time…

This is your sign.

Not because I gave you permission.

But because you no longer need it.

You are the host.

You are the guest.

You are the Tao made visible.

Now—go make some jazz.

🙏🏿

Until next breath,

Diamond-Michael

The Chocolate Taoist

— unfiltered, unbranded, unapologetically alive