Tag: inner literacy

  • rising above

    “In life, many things will challenge us. It is not about whether or not we rise to them, but rather that we simply rise above.” – Hannah McPherson

    I think of obstacles in life as optional. This is because I am an escape artist of reality, most of the time. The simplest solution to every problem is to pretend it doesn’t exist. This is not great advice, as it comes with consequences and complications.

    So, don’t follow in my footsteps on that one.

    However, there is a perspective shift in there. You can always rise above a challenge. If you zoom out to the bigger picture that we are on a floating rock hurtling through space, then things seem a lot less grave in times of weakness.

    When I say weakness, what I mean is that in moments of weakness I try to remember there is no problem we cannot solve with time, patience, and effort, or at least be able to give ourselves the illusion that it has been solved until the next problem arises.

    We may not always get the outcomes we desire.

    Life has a way of bringing what is meant for you to you, but the alternative must also be true, that things not meant for you will also leave you.

    I’ve been dealing with loss, lately. As friends get older, they grow apart. I’ve been dealing with loss of my sense of self, my sense of comfort. It has been far from easy.

    This is not an abject judgement on solving problems or true pain, but it is a commentary on how we can respond to these things.

    It is easy to get bogged down in the harsh reality of our world sometimes, and the “rising above” concept talks about how we may relieve ourselves of the temporary pains we experience from not being able to process these experiences.

    Step 1. Remind yourself that everything is temporary.

    Step 2. Remind yourself that things that are forever, we have no real knowledge of, so use your most positive imagination to fill in a story that inspires you.

    Step 3. Sit with the feelings caused by challenges long enough to observe and understand what it means to you, don’t just skim the surface or keep digging when you’ve done the work.

    Step 4. Zoom out, get back to the basics, trudge through the mundane while keeping the grander scale of things in mind.

    Step 5. Allow time, patience, and effort to transform the challenge into something you can work with. Trust the process.

    Now, these are not 5 easy steps, nor are they a simple band-aid fix all for responding to problems, but they are a great start to the methodology of rising above.

    Today, I am trying to take my own advice, which is difficult. I won’t say this process has always worked for me, but when it has, it was exactly what I needed.

    Today, I am trusting the process and I hope you can too.

  • Today’s Self vs. The Cosmic Self

    “If you look at the small picture, you’ll see ‘Today’s Self’. If you look at the big picture, you’ll see your ‘True Self’.” – Hannah McPherson

    I was lying in bed last night running through all the scenarios in my head of how the day went, trying to go to sleep. Then, I remembered I am a being made of stardust and I have a whole cosmic journey. Sweating over the smallest things takes away from the biggest picture.

    Each day, we are new. Each day, we take on a new set of experiences, challenges, and memories. However, when you zoom out to the whole – we have an entire lifetime of those.

    Now, unless you’re a savant, you probably don’t remember every single day of your life – even ones you thought were the most important day ever, or alternatively the worst day ever.

    Some part of you will keep that knowledge, but your day to day “Today Self” will not.

    Now, the “True Self” or what I like to call the “Cosmic Self” will remember. It is my hope when we end our time here, we get to review it all and recall what we have lost in the sauce of everyday existence.

    Until then, I’m aiming to paint the whole experience, not just today. I’m determined to paint a picture so grand and colorful that it will fill me with joy and surprise at all I did and forgot about.

    So, with that in mind, I’ll refer to how I started this thought last night: I cannot get so caught up in how today went, that I forget to get excited about how my whole entire life will go.

    My message to you is this: “Today’s Self” whether it was the best version, the worst version, or somewhere in between, is just a small fractal of the “Cosmic Self” – and all of it is wholly and one hundred percent you. You are able to look in whichever magic mirror you want to, at any time, free of charge. I recommend looking through the mirror that is most true to you.

  • the creative process

    “I just feel like I’m not good enough for creative spaces. I am worried people will judge me. I’m scared people won’t like me.“ – Hannah McPherson

    These are real things I’ve said.

    Today, I made a website, I made graphics and branding materials, I made videos and I made art.

    I made an attempt to get my voice out into the world. I should be proud.

    Instead? I’m devastated.

    Why? It’s not perfect. I’m going to be seen and I don’t like that the simple act of being seen these days has consequences.

    Or worse, I may not be seen and I won’t feel like I’m enough.

    This is the wrong way to do things.

    I was in my creative space and I was sitting in total darkness except for a candle like I was some midnight Victorian lady. I was going into the classic shame spiral. The one that most artists suffer from.

    I realized something important, though. I could let this defeat me, never touch this website again and continue my life unbothered.

    The only problem is that I really would have been bothered; bothered by not trying, bothered by not letting myself share my creations, and bothered by the looming feeling that if I don’t ever do it, I never will.

    As much as I can’t stand to be imperfect, I also will not stand for giving up before I’ve even started.

    If you’re someone out there who feels this way sometimes, I have a few things to tell you.

    BE GENTLE ON YOURSELF

    I had forgotten to turn on my favorite nebula light. I turned it on, and I instantly felt better. Remember that self-care is important. Give yourself the things that you need to be in your best mind-space.

    BELIEVE IN YOURSELF

    You were not put here at random, at least I don’t believe we are. It helps to know that you are an entire existence, and though it is limited, you have purpose and power in your free will and choice to live it as you please. The best use of free will is to follow your heart, and if your heart is telling you to create, then create.

    WORRYING STEALS OPPORTUNITIES

    If you never got out of bed this morning because you didn’t want to seize the day, I get it. If you didn’t chase that opportunity because you weren’t sure how it was going to work out, I understand. However, every doubt is a wall in your way. You have to break down those walls, or jump over them, to get to the next opportunity is on the other side.

    LAST THING: CARPE DIEM

    Everyone feels a little down, a little uninspired, a little worrisome about how life will treat them; You are not alone. Yet, when the day comes to put your creations out there, you take it. That day can be today. That day can be as soon as you finish reading this post. Why? Because you want to. If you don’t, and you’re just here to appreciate, that’s fine, but I hope that day finds you. The joy I feel we humans get from creating is a rare gift; not because not everyone has it, but because few people actually want to use it. I know I will use it every chance I get, because there is no greater reward than sharing my expression with the world.

    Run out with your rallying cry of, “I THINK, Therefore I AM!!!”

    CONCLUSION:

    I turned on the nebula light. I made a post about being insecure. I let the website be imperfect. I let the video I made sit for a minute. I left the candle going, and I took a moment to reflect. I will be okay, and hopefully in these moments you will be too. The answer was to love myself enough to let myself have what I want, while being afraid of it.

  • The art of inner literacy

    “I want people to feel comfortable in their own mind.” – Hannah McPherson

    I wanted to explain what I was feeling; it came so deeply. I thought of how science had not yet come across a way to measure the subjective experience, so it doesn’t get talked about nearly as much.

    But what if we found a way?

    I want to teach an ‘Inner Literacy’ course, which would be me learning alongside others.

    This course would outline and help me and the fellow students identify their internal world and how it signals our thoughts.

    This is not a therapy, this is not a crisis center, this is not forced participation in a group setting. ‘Inner Literacy’ is designed for those who want to get to know their own inner voice better. It is for people who want to find a system to learn about their internal self.

    How does it work?

    We notice a feeling, name a feeling, then pause to reflect on it, we weigh the possibility of action/reaction, and then we make an informed decision on how to proceed or integrate the feeling.

    Will there be more to come on this?

    Yes, I just want to give a light introduction to the topic. A lot of my work currently revolves around this subjective experience course framework, so I just want to give a definition. If you see a reference and are curious, I’d be open to discussion and discourse about the idea.