Your chosen family are the people that count the most.

[If you look at my chosen family, it’s big, diverse and spread all over the world. Just. Like. Me.]

My true family is my chosen family. 

My blood family is my past and a culmination of things I cannot and couldn’t, then, choose. This doesn’t mean parts of my blood family aren’t in my chosen family. They are. 

It also means a conscious choice in making decisions that honor my values, which may differ greatly from the ones I was raised with. 

When people ask me questions like “Where are you from? What’s your background? Where’s your family live,” I shrink a bit. 

None of these questions directly speak to who I am or what I value today. 

Why is your chosen family so relevant to your brand, your voice and your mission in life?

Because emotional safety and inspiration are key for you to bring your voice and magic to the world. You can most certainly do it under duress, and I have, and I much prefer being surrounded by people with shared values who get where I’m going and are already heading, there, too. 

Today my chosen family consists of all the things I love and cherish most: multi-ethnic, multi-colored, vast age ranges, multiple genders & sexual orientations, folks in recovery, best-selling authors, and more. 

But you might say, “Lalita, this can’t be your family. You don’t look like them or even speak the same first language!”

What’s your point?

I don’t look my blood family either and I feel like we grew up speaking different languages, too. 

If you limit your family, or your life, to what you were born into, then I fear you’re potentially making it very difficult to sing your song if where you grew up wasn’t adequate for thriving or safety. 

Tag 1 person who’s in your chosen family. <3