I have used the word journey and awareness a lot in the pieces I have been writing since starting, which was over a month and half ago. Journey because it best explains the highs and lows, the milestones along the way, the times, like when you are driving and all of a sudden you are aware that you are at home and you can’t remember how that journey you have been doing unconsciously? subconsciously? (well one of those words fit… haha). Well, this is a metaphor of the parts of our journey we sometimes have in our life. That ‘awareness’ of unconsciously going through this ‘journey’ all of a sudden it hits you and then you start asking questions and start becoming aware to what you have missed out on and are aware of the behaviours that lead us to repeat the same cycle again and again. Everything becomes scary, and liberating at the same time that you want everyone to experience it. I remember in another piece I wrote, “I want to shout out at the top of my lungs” to help everyone, but my realisation today listening to a conversation on the Planting Seeds Podcast between Jordan Rivers and Raniera Rewiri (Awesome podcast). Here’s what I related to and discovered…
Talk, this is the reason why I wanted to start this platform to share my story and encourage others to be vulnerable to change and learning about the world outside yours. Which is awesome! The amazing things I have discovered. Pale Ale for instance… is one (I am currently having one now, cheers… haha). My first experience of a Pale Ale was in Adelaide at my cousins 21st. The drink there was Coopers Pale Ale not Tooheys New my choice in Sydney. I didn’t like the change “staying within my nest”, that the boys found a bar for me to drink my preferred beer. Does it matter what beer you drink? No! But we get like that when we are offered or are proposed with something different to what we know. These discoveries were plenty and I wanted to and still want to communicate today. As I grew older and more mature understanding that those things are just the material things to discover. How about the different ideas about our world? How about the world before what we know now and have adopted because of colonialism? These questions and that awareness of having “arrived” but questioning whether this was the destination we were trying so desperately to get to. This is why I want to talk? Or maybe this is why I want to ask the world? Do you feel the same?
Anyways, I have been listening lately. Unwillingly though, thinking I was the only one going through these realisations or was really valuing the idea of finding out more about myself and how I think. How did I “succeed”? How did I “fail”? Are my successes really failures and vice versa? So many questions…
This episode on Planting seeds hosted by Raniera Rewiri, the featured guest was Jordan Rivers. They went in deep… which personally I enjoy, that is when you start facing the fears and become vulnerable to know more about yourself. I enjoyed where the conversation went and related to it a lot with heaps of self reflection as you always do when taking in information. The piece about helping others and the passion they both had, I also related to and would do it for free and crawl the earth finding people who wanted help. They spoke about a realisation from about both their intentions and also the responsibility for their intentions in the people they wanted to affect. They spoke about trying to make it a comfortable thing share their stories which is freeing and great, but then they realised they leave… and that person has made their selves vulnerable with no support and awareness about where and how they make their next step to healing. As they both understand, we are on these healing journeys already with the actions and processes in our personal lives by sharing and learning with others. That person you encourage to share may not have that around them. As Peter Parkers Uncle said in Spiderman, with “Great Power comes great responsibility”. Power to inspire and make a good impression on others there is great responsibility on how you help.
I’ve just started reading a must read book, “7 habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen R. Covey a good mate of mine bought for me just recently (Cheers Hala!). There is a piece saying there is a journey we take where we move from being ‘Dependant’ (Relying on others) to ‘Independent’ (Looking after yourself) to ‘Interdependent’ (Be able to work with others).
This is the thing, if people discover my stories which help them become aware to the learning of oneself and addressing the deeper stuff they are ‘dependant’ though this coming from me when I am currently moving towards my ‘independent’ self. The people I want to help are ‘dependent’ before they even take the next step to becoming ‘independent’ in their journey and this could take years. They have to have some sort of awareness for their own responsibility supporting their selves to moving towards healing (being ‘independent’). That vulnerability to address deeper issues than I probably won’t have the time to hear it all, without no support is a huge responsibility that even I have so much empathy and understanding 100%! I won’t be there all the time support even by being on social media or on a blog. All I can do is spark from sharing as I was and still am encouraged to move towards healing.
…Listening to and Observing others to understand what they want, not what I want.
So what do we do? Do we stop talking? Do we just listen and observe? I don’t know. I will still share, I will still talk. I am aware of the responsibility of helping people. Just this time, Listening to and Observing others to understand what ‘they want’, not what ‘I want’ is important for the person I connect with. That is the reason why we all share in the first place, so it can be received by someone else Listening. Maybe I should just do what my psychologist says, be how you want (enter persons name here) to be towards you”.
Matthew 7:12 “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you…” (Is my psychologist paraphrasing the bible… haha).
So yeah, all of the above, just have to reframe…
Talk, Listen, Observe responsibly for others.
Thank you Lord!