Being and Doing and a Yard Sign That Says “What Would Love Do?”
Dear friends, I’ve had some powerful experiences over the last few months. It feels like I’ve been peeling layers of reserve off myself so I can act on what’s truly in my heart. This started with the Little Free Pantry and continued as I began taking food to homeless people and engaging them in conversation. The latest step in my evolution was when I ordered a custom yard sign that says “What would love do?” It’s going to live in my front yard for the foreseeable future. Hopefully, it’s a way of influencing people to cut through the rancor in our country and access love for others and allow that love to motivate their actions.
I’m not exactly sure how I’ve gotten here, shedding the self-consciousness that has been with me for most of my life. Some of it is that this moment we’re living through is so profound, so catalyzing that I feel it’s stripping me of pretense. It feels like a moment of forced choice and I feel compelled to declare which side I’m on. But it’s more than the moment; it’s also something about me that’s shifting – my way of being is changing because of what I’m doing. What I am doing is being much more present in the moment (mindful). I am making a lot of time for meditation, being in nature, practicing qi gong (a form of tai chi that is about cultivating energy), allowing and listening to my emotions and engaging in deep personal reflection. As a result, I’m discovering and becoming my authentic self.
I watched a Ted Talk recently that described something similar to my experience. Called “Rethinking the Bucket List”, this talk by Kathleen Taylor describes her experiences of being with the dying when she worked in hospice. Taylor says that people facing death become like a crystallized, distilled version of who they really are. Upon accessing their authentic selves, they become courageous. Taylor’s message is a powerful one, that it’s never too soon to live the life that’s true to ourselves, to find and be our authentic selves. You can watch the talk here https://www.dailygood.org/story/2607/rethinking-the-bucket-list-ted-com/
Taylor says that asking ourselves, “What am I supposed to be doing with my life?” is the wrong question. Instead, the better question is “Who am I being in my life?” When we know who we are, what we are supposed to do with our lives naturally follows. She challenges us to imagine a world where every human is living as their authentic selves long before they face their deaths. What a world that would be.
Slowly, I’m becoming clearer on who I really am and am finding the courage to act on that, like getting my custom yard sign made up. So, friends, I ask you what would your custom yard sign say? What is the message you want to offer the world right now? What is helping you be your most authentic self?
With Love, Hope, and Action for a Better World,
Colleen
2 Comments
Jim Gillespie
In answer to what is helping me to be my most authentic self, I recently found a set of 50 cards called “if Life is a Game Then These are the Rules” (also a book), Have no idea when I acquired them – its been years and I’d done nothing with them. They are 50 cards about the size of large sticky notes. On one side is a word and the other a definition. For example “self-esteem” paired with “Feel worthy and able to meet all of life’s challenges.” I’ve been turning over a card each day and trying to act on it in some way. I keep each card up through the week and then at the end of the week return them to the deck and start over. It’s helped me be a bit more mindful. The title isn’t really accurate, though. They are not rules, and I don’t always complete agree with the definitions, as with the one for self-esteem above. But that challenges me to think about what self-esteem means to me. Anyway, my two cents.
colleen_osborne
Hi again Jim,
Thank you for your thoughtful comment. What you’re doing is a really cool practice, especially the part where you try to find a way to act on it. In my experience, turning new ideas into action is the most challenging and important step we can take. Otherwise new ideas or information are just that, ideas or information that we don’t integrate into our ways of doing and being.
Hope you and your family are staying well these days.
Love,
Colleen