What about you? Care to confess?
Most of us think we don’t have anything to say. But the reality is that we’ve just stopped listening to ourselves. We’ve stopped allowing ourselves to speak from a deep place. The Deep Place where the soul meets sunshine for a moment of clarity and thought. If we aren’t willing to get quiet and listen, then we won’t have anything to say at all.
You’ll never find real answers if you’re afraid to ask real questions.
And, you’ll never find real answers if you aren’t willing to answer the real questions.
For example, what is important to me?
What things are important to you?
These are the things that are word-worthy. That mean much to us. That are breath and life and living. Those things should have words. Words on pages that may never be read. Or in secret conversations in the late of night that fall between you and your love or you and your God or you and your friend. By all means, give them words.
Words cannot be words without breath. And so life cannot be life without breath. And faith cannot be faith without breath. What is it if it has no breath? It is dead.
Give your truth breath. Speak it. Say it. Offer it to the ears of the world. And to the ears of yourself. Declare it. Write it down. Breath it out to someone else. Make it real. Make it alive. Make it full of breath. Put your breath–your exhale–in it and send it on it’s way.
We cannot live our realities if we are denying them. We cannot live out our pursuits if we are being silenced. Surround yourself with people who don’t silence you, but who cheer on your voice. Bring them into your world and let them speak their words to you so you can find your own voice. Get used to the sound of your voice and let it be the vessel you use to declare truth and love to the world. What are we without our own voices? mute… lifeless… messageless…
Don’t mute yourself. Amplify yourself. You have something to say that’s worth saying. Say it. If it’s worthy of words, give it words.
Give it words.
Remind me who said that. That quote about who you are when nobody’s looking? You know the quote. It’s supposed to help bring clarity to who we really are, right? Like: Your truest self can be shown by what you do when nobody’s looking.
It’s been floating around in my head lately, or at least some butchered version of it. (By the way, butchered is not spelled “butured” like my brain wanted to spell it. Whew. That was a close one.)
(Glad I was looking.)
So, the quote. Yes! It pops in my head randomly. Surprisingly. Like a 5-year-old with a cape–”TADAAAA!!–announcing its arrival. And it wants to see what I’m doing. And so, this mini mental mirror has been following me around lately and tapping me on the shoulder and demanding my gaze–especially when nobody’s looking. (haha Oh, how cute.) Ok, like when I’m driving home from work and Drew is teaching the last session of his Revelation Class and I know I’ve got the evening to myself and my brain asks me what I’m going to do and I answer with something like “Whatever the heck I wanna do, because nobody’s looking! Woot!”
(See? That’s what happens in my head when nobody’s looking.)
I should probably assure you that I didn’t exactly invite this little caped mirror into my head. I don’t know where it (he) came from. But it’s (he’s) there. And maybe that’s not comforting at all…
Nope, probably not.
Oh well.
The more I’ve looked at myself–really watched myself when nobody’s looking–the more I’ve learned about myself:
Until then, it’s your turn! Think back on the last time you were doing something “you-ish” when nobody was looking. What’d you do? Wanna share? Oh come on it’ll be fun!
Every time I see another news story about workers trapped in a mine I can’t help but think the world would be a better place without coal-mining dipping and diving down below the earth’s surface, down into darkness and danger. I also can’t help but think they’re crazy to go down there to begin with.
How heartless is that?! Iamashamed.
But, permit me to ask: why would anyone want to go down there with all the risk of the world falling in on them?
Miners have some serious bravery. Bravado. Whatever it’s called. You know what I mean.
And they’re motivated for a reason. The Man is paying them a (hopefully) decent wage to dig down and dirty until they find coal. Obviously, that black flammable stuff is worth it.
I don’t want to make light of the nightmare they and their families experience.
I don’t.
And I don’t want to diminish their plight to a simple metaphor.
But…
I think there’s some dark crap truth treasure down in me. And digging it out feels a lot like risking my life.
Metaphorically, of course.
There’s something metaphoric and inspired to my coal-mining mind-wanderings, and it’s worth noting.
Here’s to Soul-Mining.
Hello everybody!
It’s time! Next week I’ll be featuring some of the self-portraits that we’ve churned up. I’ve already gotten a taste of what we’ve done, and I’m very excited.
So. Here’s how we’ll do this. You can post it on your own blog (photo, song, poem, prose, whatever). AND/OR send it to me (mandy[at]mandythompson[dot]com) and I’ll put a few up next week.
If you’re interested, but have no idea what we’re talking about, click the link above and check it out. It’s all about being real and honest and vulnerable about how we see ourselves. And there’s still time to send yours in. You can knock it out over the weekend! yay!!
How’s that sound?
Send ‘em. I’m excited!!
