When I write about Self-awareness, two levels of consciousness are involved. The primary one means discovering Self, who we are at Heart-level. The secondary one, also crucial, implies knowing the total Self in terms of abilities, strengths, weaknesses, aptitudes — all important. I know who I am, and I know my strengths and weaknesses, even though I do not always like to admit weaknesses. I will face one with you tonight, though.
I do not finish things in a timely manner. I do them; however, when I read about how the Universe likes speed, I cringe a bit. Why do I bring this up today? I am not especially accomplished in anything business-related, and book publishing is definitely a business skill set. A subset of that, marketing, presents other challenges. I will say I process on the slow side, but that’s partly because I’m a holistic learner, which means I need to see the big picture and figure out how each component fits into that. It takes me longer, but once I have it, it’s mine. Yet, more self-awareness awaits me; I jump joyfully into the lake of authorship and publishing only to be grabbed by something from the murky depths. I haven’t finished my short nonfiction work, which I have shared portions of here, nor have I finished the rewrite of my novel. The Hydra of the lake, that multi-headed, despicable beast, won’t let me go. What happens when I finish? The options in marketing and the necessary skills are currently outside my ken. Have I led up to the publications professionally? Volumes have been written about this, not to mention — no kidding — at least five offers a day in emails about how to publish and market. Wait, just like I know my new name, that which characterizes core Self, my self-awareness leads me to name this multi-headed creature of my own making: Self-doubt. Can I do this? Can I learn what I need to know? Will anyone see value in what I write? What happens if only a few people buy my work? And even if it sells modestly, how do I put a system in place that can handle the correspondence? I mean, I don’t even know how to use Mail Chimp, for cryin’ out loud. My own Ego has begotten this Hydra, and I reject it. How? Well, if you are reading this you’ve probably thought of a dozen or so quotes right now. I know them. The only solution, though, is to act, to move forward through the snapping heads of that creature, doubting that I can learn, can be significant, successful, even noticed. So, as my dad said way before I even knew it would be Nike’s slogan, just do it. Therefore, I need to take stock of my personal truth, of things I have written about extensively. When we discover who we are at Heart-level, we realize our essence, our real being, is Spirit. In that way, we are a unity, but not a conformity. As bearers of Spirit, our uniqueness is found in our physical, mental, and emotional makeup, and we need to be aware of self. We are all Spirit, yet we are all unique, exceptional. Our Heart wants us to discover who that is. Hand in glove with that is the Heart-energy and impetus to do somethinghere in the physical plane.We each get to create a purpose, a something-to-do, that expresses our unique Spirit-identity. When that doesn’t happen, we behave inconsistently with our true nature, and from that all the social, cultural, governmental, and personal ills that plague us evolve. My personal ill — well, I’ve shared that monster above. I want my work published and available because it is an expression of my love and has value as such. Heart tells me, has urged me many months now, to get off my proverbial ass of Ego and finish. Sometimes, we do need extra motivation, an extra smack in the face to wake us up. I got that a bit earlier this evening at a meeting of the St. Louis Publishers Association. I serve on the board of directors as secretary. Ironic, isn’t it, that I have not published a book but am a member and serve on the board of a publishers’ association? Tonight, our speaker, Alex Cruz, a younger guy and expert in his field, focused on establishing a digital presence and branding ourself and then using analytics, metrics, to determine our effectiveness and chart our next moves. I kind of got it, but I spoke to him afterwards. I told him I had published every day for well over a year, showed him a bit of it, and his response was shock. He basically said, “But what are you driving these readers and followers to? What are you offering them besides the free value and content all this time? What product do you have to offer them?” Nothing, I have nothing. He was more shocked when I told him I had a novel I was rewriting, a second one in the works, and a short nonfiction that would be my first published work, I think. “Get the books done and then let’s talk.” Okay, I get it. My Heart mediated with Spirit and worked it out for me to hear this tonight. I needed the extra incentive, but I will tell you that right underneath this document I’m writing is my nonfiction book, which I worked on earlier today. So, you see, Heart gives the energy, the pulse, to soul, mind, and body to execute, to act. It’s a good thing to remember, because Ego distracts. To put Self out there, to have others aware of who we are, is a threat to Ego. To be different in a world mostly filled with people not very accepting of amazing, unique individuals threatens others as well as Ego. We need to be self-aware. Blessings in doing so!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Questions to consider:How many times have you asked yourself or simply thought about the following questions?
Who am I, really? What is my truth? How do my actions reveal what I really feel and believe? What would I do with my life if I could do anything? What is my passion? Why am I here? How can I discover answers to any of these questions? If you have considered any of these questions, I hope that my experiences and writing will give you some guidance. Please read my blog and comment and share your thoughts. I would love to hear from you! Archives
December 2019
Categories |