Going Back to our Original Selves

I was having an email conversation with Aunt Katie, who is a writer like me.

She wrote in the email something her mentor said; a place to begin as a writer is to write about what you could talk about all day. This makes perfect sense.

I thought this advice could fit anyone doing anything. It could be fixing bicycles or quilting, for heaven’s sake, it doesn’t matter the subject but find a happy place for your heart and mind.

I like it when people my age start thinking about reinventing themselves and doing something different. We retire from one job and desire to discover another facet of life. Or, instead of waiting for retirement, we pivot.

So, Katie’s email gave me a WOW moment.

Maybe we aren’t reinventing but just wanting…needing…to go back to our original selves. What we were meant to be in the first place.

When I went to college, teaching seemed like a logical career choice. It was the easier path because everything was laid out alphabetically. Which classes to take, when, how much to pay, and what I needed every step of the way to get my certification. I didn’t have to think too much about it.

I noticed my heart beat a little faster with love and joy when I took Creative Writing, Art, and Theatre classes; those were my favorite in high school.

Looking back, I know I suppressed my Original Self. My Original Self was not so easy to follow, for I would have needed to figure that out all myself, where to start, what my goals needed to be, and how to move forward every step of the way, and way back then, it seemed too big a mountain to climb and too risky.

I wasn’t good at taking risks because I lived a “blend-in-with-the-wallpaper” life.

I wonder why we suppress our real selves for something else. It’s common, you know.

I suppose fear is one reason.

Fear is good for some things, like keeping us safe. After all, we don’t go down dark alleys in rough neighborhoods in the middle of the night to frolic, right? Noooo. Or, we don’t open the door to some stranger banging on it at 2 am, do we? No way.

I guess the fear of all the ‘might-happens’ plague us. You know, this might happen, or that might happen.

Another reason is not knowing how it could be done in the first place, so we are defeated without trying. And we don’t try. Ideas come, ideas go.

Another is ta-da! MONEY. No money is such a good excuse. It was for me.

But if we could push aside all that hinders us and jump fully in! What a great place to be!

Sure, your idea may look a little different now if a lot of time has passed, but that’s okay.

I may not become a famous ballerina if I started to learn now (at my age), but maybe I can still learn ballet. Not that I’m going to do that particular thing. Maybe this one is for you.

Another example is my artwork. It’s free-spirited and a bit peculiar, but when I sketch-it makes my heart happy. Lines and angles, shading and color, and all the in-betweens are exciting to me. When I know a project is complete, I feel good and don’t care about the haters.

You are the inventor of your own life.

Is it too late to become your Original Self?

I refuse to believe so. Not for me. Nor, for you. There’s always a place at the table.

Many of you can relate to this; I have a four-year-old niece. Her world right now is a world of poverty, and I know what the poverty mindset does to a human.

I don’t like it for her, but it’s her reality for now. Her dad works hard but doesn’t make a lot of money.

She is loved, no doubt.

But my hope for her is to reach beyond the physical limitations, flow into a higher metaphysical state, and know God has created her to become something wonderful.

She needs to know that the physical world doesn’t bind her. I don’t want her to see her world as lacking so she can stay true to her Original Self all the days of her life.

This world isn’t lacking. Everything we need is already here. If our daily thoughts focus on the abundance around us, they can meet us. Whatever we focus on is where we end up. Proverbs 23, as a man thinks in his heart, so is he.

Are you your Original Self? Let me know.

God’s abundant Peace and Prosperity to you,

Love, Sharon