Defining the Self

 Many say that through age we get to know ourselves, our likes and dislikes, our passion, our true inner character...Often, we look to defining ourselves with labels to help create our sense of Self...Do we need to define ourselves to truly... BE? It can be perceived that the more we seek to define ourselves the more we feed our egoic minds...Through definition, we feel great, we seek solice in knowing and hoping that others see the same definition we have created for ourselves.  Perhaps the more we actively seek who we are the more we are further driven away from our true characters.  I believe to find our sense of Self we should not involve much thought or planning...this would just be a mere fabrication of our true selves...


"Defining yourself through thought is limiting yourself.  When you fully accept that you don't know, you actually enter a state of peace and clarity that is closer to who you are than thought could ever be." 

     -Eckhart Tolle                                   

Validation...

What does it mean to validate?

To validate is to seek acceptance and confirmation that our choices are just. We often question our own judgements and, therfore, seek guidance in order to fully come to terms with ourselves...our life struggles...

What if validation never comes? Can we find it in ourselves to validate our own sense of being...our own choices and moral judgements?

The answer is there...amidst the chaos...the answer was always there...we just need to continue to BE...live in the NOW...and equally important...find that sense of CALM...

What Is Optimism...

Optimism is taking your first step into the unknown and embracing each and every step of the way.  It is welcoming challenge with excitement with little or no hesitation...Optimism is smiling when life gets tough...laughing when confusion begins to take it`s toll...having faith that things will be okay...

...all the while knowing that we only choose to make the best for ourselves...if we only give ourselves a chance...

Finding Meaning...

What does it mean to find meaning? Finding meaning is sifting through thoughts and making sense of what is true...that is making sense of what IS...

Thoughts are JUDGEMENTS and OPINIONS that can sometimes make us lose our sense of Self.  We need to free ourselves from thoughts...free ourselves from the 'noise' of the everyday...we need to find time to just....BE...

From this...we will eventually find meaning...even when things seem so bleak and confusing...

Birds At Play

I created this watercolor image mindlessly at a coffee shop.  I love how the birds are flying freely upwards toward the sky.

Sometimes life takes you where you least expect it.

Sometimes you just have to embrace the moment and believe that the path you are taking is the one to be trusted.

Embracing this is...the art of being...

What Does It Mean To Just....Be?

What does it mean to just...be? To be...is to embrace the moment...to be free of all thoughts...all judgements...all negativity...all worries.  To 'be' means feeling the energy that surges within you...to appreciate yourself as a gift to the world...to acknowledge yourself as a part of nature...to 'be' means to love yourself...and to embrace yourself through all your senses...

To 'be' is allowing the time to be free to be me...