SHOWING UP - THE POWER OF HOW WE SEE OURSELVES
We all Show Up wrapped in self-perception. It’s our natural state. These beliefs of who we are reveal to us the world. They’re not our escort. They’re our parade. Also, our pageant, tournament and challenge. Do we notice advantage or obstacle? Do they show us competence or helplessness? Kindness or neglect? Beauty or betrayal?
Do we turn toward ourselves, in acceptance and love? Turn away, in disappointment? Or turn against ourselves in neglect or abuse?
Since we can only see the world as we are, nothing exists outside our personal lens. Our life’s showcase is all encompassing. We sense, iterate and interpret through our experience-tainted clogged pores. What are we choosing to hear? With what degree of hygiene?
This is the individual view. But what of the collective culture in which we live?
SPLASHING IN CULTURE’S CLASS FOUR RAPIDS
We splash within culture’s class four rapids as a droplet, not a boat. Our lives are tossed amidst local and global currents of politics and persuasion. Cultures capture and enrich us. But they may become infected. Degrees of consumerism, negativity, fear, extremism, racializing, social disparity, or other catalysts, cause strain.
At these moments, it’s often helpful to again consider, how shall we show up? What tides are pulling us in? What options should we step back from? And, on what topics shall we, however subtly, exit the system?
STEPPING BACK – EXITING THE SYSTEM
This is the moment when we grant ourselves distance. It’s our antidote. Our psychological, emotional, technical, physical space to gain perspective. We need to see things across a broader plain, one that is hopefully less wrought, and perhaps even smiles, as we fragile and volatile souls settle ourselves.
Laying off news and social media is known to provide peace. A supple detox of detached succor. Just as happiness is a skill, sadness, stress and volatility are too. Choosing our degree of cultural embeddedness is part of understanding and choosing ourselves.
For most of my new friends and colleagues in the encounters, this choice was not recognized. They show up burdened by the world, not seeing themselves as the architects they can choose to be. The friends for me will make a different choice. They’ll be there when I need them to remind me of options, ways to regain agency, and redefine myself.
Amidst it all, it remains a choice.
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Neglect or abuse may take the form of insufficiently honoring our own thoughts or feelings, choosing unhealthy foods, inadequate sleep, overwork, or engaging in risky behavior, among many other things.
