Manhyia Palace, Kumasi, Ghana

What would it feel like to stand in your own completeness without performing it for anyone?

In Twi there is a word —

Animuonyam-

The natural honor, glory and dignity of a soul completely inhabiting what it is.

The peacock has always been the symbol of pride. And pride has always been the first thing they came for. Our glory. Our greatness. Our dignity. Labeled dangerous. Taught to us as sin.

So we would dim it ourselves. This peacock is not performing. Its feathers are not spread.

It is simply standing in what it carries. We were never required to perform it. We never needed permission. That was always the truth. The dimming was the lie.

Awareness is not always something you seek. Sometimes it finds your posture

before it finds your words. Sometimes something ancient recognizes you-before you recognize yourself.