This summer, I started painting—with the hand I hid for 25 years. Because sometimes the things we’ve hidden the longest have the most to teach us.
Facing the Doubts
Truth? I wasn’t sure what would happen. Maybe something beautiful, maybe something that looked like a preschool finger-painting. (Spoiler: some of it did.) And underneath it all was the little voice whispering limiting beliefs: You’re not an artist. You don’t know what you’re doing. What if people laugh?
But I stayed with it anyway. I gave myself permission to see what might show up on the canvas. And it helped to have a teacher who reminded me it didn’t have to be perfect, it just had to be mine.
The Shift
Slowly, something shifted. The very hand I once tried so hard to hide was now creating art. The part of me I used to cover was becoming the part that revealed something new.
Why I Share
When I share my painting journey, I have found it encourages others to take their own small steps of unhiding. For one person, it was signing up for a Zumba class, even though they didn’t feel “in shape enough.” For another, it was opening Duolingo and practicing Spanish, even though they thought they wouldn’t be any good. The list (and the wonder) go on…
Unhiding doesn’t have to mean telling your deepest secret. It can be as simple as trying something new—something that challenges those limiting beliefs and lets you peel back a layer.
What I Believe
We think hiding keeps us safe. But just like with painting, hiding also keeps the canvas flat. What makes life—and leadership—compelling isn’t what we cover. It’s what we reveal. The layers, the texture, the truth.
And here’s the good news: we are always unhiding when we give ourselves permission to be curious. When we try, even if it’s imperfect. When we say yes to something, we’ve quietly told ourselves we couldn’t do.
The Invitation
So here’s my question: What’s your version of painting with your other hand? I’d love to hear your story of unhiding; reply and/or share it here.
And because I promised to keep unhiding myself, here’s one more step: I didn’t just paint, I decided to share and even begin to sell my paintings. My Etsy shop SinglehandedArtist is coming soon– until then, you can follow along on Instagram: @Singlehanded.Art for a first look and on TikTok: ruthrathblott.
This summer reminded me of something I want to carry into the new “school” year: sometimes the part of us we’ve hidden the longest is the very thing that can create the most beauty.
Warmest (and a little paint-splattered), Ruth
P.S. Unhiding at Work
Gallup’s recent research indicates that only about 1 in 5 employees globally are genuinely engaged.
Why? Because many are “not engaged”— present but not connected. In other words, they’re hiding: showing up, but holding back the parts that matter most. And it costs us connection, performance, and trust.
Unhiding changes that. When we share our ideas, our needs, our strengths, we move from simply showing up to truly engaging. That’s where connection and performance grow.
Just like I discovered with painting, what we’ve hidden might be the very thing that helps us thrive. Imagine what could happen if we let it out.
Thank you for being part of the UNHIDING community.
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