Words by Comfort Nnana Kalu
Last Month, Common was invited to speak at the University of Colorado-Boulder. It was during his speech at the University that Common disclosed an interesting tidbit about his relationship with Erykah Badu. Common dated Erykah Badu from 2000 to 2002, and from this relationship he was able to learn something important about himself.
“I discovered I didn’t truly believe in myself wholeheartedly with every morsel that I had in my body and I discovered that through a breakup, he said in his speech. “I was in a relationship with Erykah Badu. When we did breakup, one of the most important things I discovered was that I was scared to wear my greatness which meant, I could be in a relationship and dim my light for others.”
“I could get around my parents and dim my light. I could get around friends who felt like I might make them uncomfortable ‘cause I was doing something that they hadn’t maybe achieved yet or they weren’t happy with the way they were so I would dim my light for others,” Common said.
In order to change this pattern of thinking, he grabbed onto the habit of reading and it taught him something very important. “I learned that you can never dim your light…sometimes we dim our light most importantly because we don’t truly believe in that light.”
Common’s lesson and message is something that many can relate to as it points to the human struggle to find self. It is important that people begin to recognize that it is okay to just be yourself.
