The Excavated
By Faarouq Christian
Used to think confidence came from certainty.
Turns out, it comes from excavation.
See, diamonds aren’t found where everybody is looking.
They’re buried. Hidden. Pressed.Ignored.Passed over.
Spending most of their existence looking like anything but a diamond.
People aren’t much different. I’ve met people who were one conversation away from changing their lives.
One opportunity away.
One belief away.
One person away from finally hearing:
“I know you got it in you”
And that’s the funny thing.
Most people wait until greatness arrives before they acknowledge it. I always found that backwards. Anybody can celebrate a blooming flower. It takes vision to water a seed.
That’s what fascinates me. Potential. Not what a person is.
What they can become.
Cuz’ life taught me something strange.. The most valuable things never announce themselves.
The deepest wells don’t brag about being deep.
The strongest people don’t always look strong.
The future writer may currently be a security guard.
The future entrepreneur may currently be broke.
The future love of your life may currently be healing.
The future version of you may be hiding beneath the circumstances of today.
That’s why when it comes to appearances, I appreciate them ofc. But I don’t get too attached.
I’ve learned, snapshots lie. Trajectories tell the truth.
People love judging the frame. I prefer watching the film. Maybe that’s why conversations mean so much to me. I don’t care much about resumes. I care about becoming.
Who are you beneath the role?
Who are you beneath the title?
Who are you beneath the mistakes?
Who are you when nobody is watching?
Those questions have introduced me to some truly incredible people.
Writers.
Artists.
Parents.
Dreamers.
People carrying entire universes beneath ordinary introductions. And every now and then, somebody asks me why or how I’m so cheerful.
That’s always funny.
Cuz’ they see the smile. They don’t see the excavation. They see the confidence. They don’t see the pressure that created it. They see the presence. They don’t see the years spent becoming it.
What many people call confidence is often survival with a good tailor.
A scar that learned how to speak.
A lesson that learned how to laugh.
A wound that discovered purpose.
I know this cuz’ I’ve lived it.
There were moments in my life when circumstances could’ve become my destiny.
Moments when it would’ve been easy to accept limitation as destiny. Easy to become the story others expected. Easy to let the snapshot become the entire film.
I couldn’t do it.
Cuz’ somewhere deep down, I’ve always believed there was more.
Not because I had proof. Because I had possibility.
And possibility has carried me further than certainty ever could. that’s why I love art. Art isn’t decoration. It’s excavation. It’s the act of digging carefully through the dirt until something valuable is brought into the light.
A good song excavates a feeling.
A good book excavates a truth.
A good conversation excavates a person.
And maybe that’s what I’ve been doing all along.. Looking for diamonds. Not in jewelry stores. In people.
Cuz’ no matter where someone comes from, what they’ve survived. What they’ve lost, what they’ve done, or what they’ve been called..
There’s often something extraordinary waiting beneath the surface.
Waiting to be protected. Waiting to be believed in. Waiting to be named. Waiting to be excavated.
And if I’ve learned anything at all, it’s this:
The world changes the moment one person looks at another and says..
“I know you got it in you.”
Sometimes that’s all the spark greatness ever needed.
UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN
#ONELANE #STREETLOVE