Mission accomplished.
I have now blogged for 30 consecutive days. What’s my reflection on the process?
I do feel proud. It is satisfying to know that I created a specific goal for myself that I was able to achieve. No one else made me do it. In practicing self-compassion, I think it’s important to recognize the feeling of pride, to allow it to glow. In a culture in which athletes point at the sky after hitting home runs, but blame themselves for the team’s loss, personal pride often gets pushed aside, equated with arrogance. To glow with satisfaction is to exhibit aliveness.
This process has met my needs for achievement, growth, contribution, consistency, authenticity, and self-expression. As some would attest, I am a relatively independent person, appreciate my space, and frequently wrestle with various psychological and philosophical concepts. I probably listen to about 10-15 podcasts a week, and I have for some time (not to mention videos and books). I have a thirst for knowledge and am grateful for the world wide web’s existence in facilitating my self-education over the past ten years or so. In meeting my need for self-expression, this blog has served as a platform in communicating the exciting process of cognitive integration, codifying numerous sources of information in my brain to form knowledge.
Knowledge is personal power. What’s inspired me most of late, and what prompted me to embark on this 30-day excursion, is the work of T.K. Coleman, Education Director at Praxis. To paraphrase his philosophy: despite the often overwhelming systems of oppression in the external world, you have the power to innovate, to self-actualize, to think for yourself, to create beauty, to thrive, to emanate happiness.
There were definitely several times in the past month that I felt vulnerable. The people-pleaser in me didn’t want to say anything too edgy out of fear that I would be ostracized somehow, or just that others would feel uncomfortable. What I continue to seek, however, is authenticity over correctness, honesty over niceness, and trust over fear. If you told me you’ve felt uncomfortable at some point over the past month, I would take that as a compliment.
This isn’t the final post. I’m going to shoot for another month, though I will let my mind be more flexible in precisely how I steer the ship going forward. Your feedback is always welcome (email me).
I’ve gained value out of this process, and I hope you have as well.
Cheers,
Joel
