Who are you really?

Other than death, there is no finish line or retirement for the creative person.*
Austin Kleon

Everyone knows that Superman and Clark Kent are the same. But which one is the alter ego?**
Todd Herman

And everyone is creative, although
it may not be the work that they we get paid for, meaning that
it’s important to identify our creativity –
our super-work where we find our imagination and innovation and making are
most energised and persevering through the failures that become half the fun.

I’m looking forward to reading high performance coach Todd Herman’s book
about the alter ego, and,
Whilst not wanting to give anything away, I think that
we can share the answer to his question:
Clark Kent is Superman’s alter ego;
Now that’s an interesting twist, meaning
Geoffrey Baines is my alter ego, and so,
Who am I really?

Wrap a story or narrative around this and you have
a purpose that you cannot retire from anytime soon –
It’s why I’ve created dreamwhispering.

*Austin Kleon’s blog: There is no finish line;
**Todd Herman’s The Alter Ego Effect.

What’s not to like?

A humble mindset has significant effects on the cognitive, interpersonal, and decision making skills. Humble people are better learners and problem solvers … Humility is also the only effective antidote to narcissism.*
Anna Katharina Schaffner

Becoming psychologically flexible is key to personal transformation, not overattaching to your current identity or perspectives. Becoming insatiably committed to a future purpose and embracing emotions rather than avoiding them is how radical change occurs.**
Ben Hardy

Here I am,
Banging on about humility again –
It really is an attribute that meets many needs:
Feeling bad about self – humility,
Worried what others think about you – humility,
Needing to see more around you – humility,
Wanting to learn more – humility
Be open to more ideas – humility,
See new possibilities – humility,
Experience more awe and wonder – humility,
Connect more with people – humility,
Be willing to experiment and try different things – humility,
Wanting to change self and direction – humility,
The power to keep going – humility …
Free and available to all to develop.

*Anna Katharina Schaffner’s The Art of Self Improvement;
**Ben Hardy’s Personality Isn’t Permanent.

The evolution story

We have a choice whether we wish to continue with evolution on this planet or not. I vote “yes.”*
Keith Haring

People evolve before organisations do.**

The possibility of a human being
evolving across their lifetime is a
staggering notion, and we have far more
agency towards this than we imagine;
I’m not thinking of what we might simply do that
looks different, but how
we lock the important changes into our DNA,
And I cannot think of better places to begin than
humility – which is to know and respect our Self and others
more deeply, then
gratitude – to notice and be grateful for all that
fills and touches our lives, and
faithfulness – to daily find new ways of expressing
who we are and what we have.

*Keith Haring’s Keith Haring Journals;
**Source lost but it could be gapingvoid’s blog or Seth Godin.

Prime time

Often, without knowing it, we are waiting for a new idea to come along and cut us free from our entanglement.*
John O’Donohue

Prime is the time we establish ourselves in the world on individual, equal terms. Once we have contact again with an essence and a sense of accomplishment, then we can offer ourselves to others for conversation in a new way.**
David Whyte

We are not plants or some
higher form of animal intelligence,
Blame consciousness but life is more
complex for us;
We have to find different ways of dealing with
reality, and have often found this in
ideas and imagination, so,
When we feel
trapped
dead-ended
pointless
hopeless
restricted
dark-minded
repressed
oppressed
clueless
directionless,
Here are five of the best areas for exploration – these from medieval times:
Being as the deepest reality of all things,
The Oneness of all things in unity despite all difference,
The True found in reality and experience,
The Good as the soul of the world, and the
Beautiful as human inspiration and passion.*

In the morning, in my prime time, the things
I’m reading often offer up many of these in thoughts and
experiences and possibilities,
Disentangling me from most things that
hold me fast.

*John O’Donohue’s Divine Beauty;
**David Whyte’s Crossing the Unknown Sea.

A transcendent species

Whatever pain you can’t get rid of, make it your creative offering … It’s not that pain equals art. It’s that creativity has the power to look pain in the eye, and to decide to turn it into something better.*
Susan Cain

That’s the process of evolution. An evaluation criteria for determining whether to convert input to output, I think the initial values that the brain is equipped with are pain and discomfort.**
Ryunosuke Koike

We wish there were no pain,
But it’s always been an important element when it came to
life or death, or at least between
stick or twist,
Being awakened to the power of our imagination to face the
pressure of reality, somehow alchemising
transcendence;
It’s likely that we’re here
doing something we’re pretty good at because of pain
rather than comfort.

*Susan Cain’s Bittersweet;
**Ryunosuke Koike’s The practice of Not Thinking.

Every travel plan is perfect until it meets the road

The idea is simple. You have a purpose so big and inspiring it transforms your entire life.
Ben Hardy

An overnight success almost never is. Might as well plan for the journey.**
Seth Godin

Of course, you may have planned a trip
rather than a journey,
Or a jaunt, an outing, an excursion, or even a junket;
However, the longer the travel,
The greater the variety of sceneries, topographies, terrains and
perspectives, and the greater the possibility of
change, and even transformation, a re-connecting with
the wild without and the wild within:
meaning has to be located outside ourselves –
discovered in the world rather than our own psyches.^

*Ben Hardy’s Personality Isn’t Permanent;
Seth Godin’s blog: All at once and quite suddenly;
^Anna Katharina Schaffner’s The Art of Self Improvement.