Day 68/366 days Towards Self-Mastery. Mood: Contemplative
How do we show up as our most authentic selves? Is it as simple as observing our public presentation versus our more private appearance? Is it as straight forward as seeing where we are "gilding the lily" and putting a stop to it?
That's a simplistic view in my opinion. It certainly wasn't anything remotely as easy as those statements would suggest for me nor any of my clients.
Taking the plunge into our inner world to rediscover ourselves is a lifelong journey for most of us. We've spent a lifetime adjusting and adapting to try to fit in, meet expectations, follow trends, do the right thing, show support, care for others, that we've forgotten what is true for us.
Sarah's challenge today is to take the plunge
"One is not born a woman, one becomes one," is how Simone De Beauvoir so succinctly put it.
Make a decision to learn to know your authentic self. The ways you celebrate and the way you hide your authenticity. Begin to notice yourself.
It's a good first step in becoming more aware. We begin to know the woman within.
For me this journey began when I was around 20 years of age. On leaving home I was determined to rediscover who I was. To understand my reactions and responses to life. To find the pathway to joy.
That journey is ongoing. It's a continuous exploration of my authenticity and it takes courage every single day to present my most authentic self to the world.
It's why I do the work I do. Our emotional and mental resilience is so impacted by coping with life's circumstances.
It seems to me that we all want to come back to the heart. We want to connect with the heart of others, and have them reach into ours. I think that's what I've been working towards all my life.
Each day I get closer to being 100% heart-centred. But often something gets in the way. A judgement from someone, an uninvited opinion, an unwanted interference, a misunderstanding, and I'll begin to doubt myself all over again.
Some research came across my desk today that was conducted with pre-school children and how 100% of them scored for genius, because them naturally live in their imaginations. Then in adulthood, that result dropped to something ridiculous, like 3%. We find ourselves wanting to return to who we were before life got a hold on us.
Before conditioning from many quarters overshadowed our individuality, our uniqueness.
Take the plunge into your inner world. It's worth it. If you've experienced physical or emotional trauma in your earlier years, work with a good therapist. It will reduce the time it takes to make significant progress and you learn to manage more of the exploration yourself as you go along.
Eventually you'll connect again with who you really are. You'll feel confident to show up as you and you won't be too worried about what others think. You might have relapses as I do from time to time, but that's okay. We're human. Perfection isn't a thing.
When you can touch your own heart with compassion and love, you'll be able to touch another's in the same way.
366 days Towards Self-Mastery
When I considered my New Year's intentions for 2020 I had just one: To allow my heart to love what it loved...and let it lead me. (If not now, then when?)
I've spent months working on integrating my life. To live life more fully with my home life, my interests, my work, my responsibilities, all coming together, all connected. I want to give each the attention that they desire and need, and still have time and energy for the others. That means living and working from the heart.
As I was clearing out my bookshelf over the Christmas break I discovered Simple Abundance. I set it aside to explore it on New Year's Day as I lazed through another delicious day of nothingness. Sarah, the author, says this book is about living in grace. Living in grace I realised, is about Self-Mastery.
My thirst for understanding the human condition has driven me all my life, and hand-in-hand with self-mastery it has been a life-long goal. And seeing as I love to write, that living in grace is about self-mastery, and I love a bit of a challenge, then if I am truly going to let my heart lead, I really don't have any other choice. So scary as it feels, I'm starting out on a daily mission of leaning into the suggestions of this daybook and making a daily post to keep me accountable. If not now, then when?
I'm Josie. You can find out a little more about me here.
Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy: by Sarah Ban Breathnach.
This book is written for the Australian and NZ market because it refers to seasonal changes. It's available on Amazon here if you'd like to follow along.