Art And The Practice Of Being Yourself

I do not believe that we are "born more or less with an empty vault."  I believe we are born again and again and who we are  as in this lifetime is the sum total of all our experiences and lessons from previous lifetimes.  If you notice little children, at even a fairly young age they have different talents, personalities and fears.  Surely these weren't developed or accumulated in a just a few years.  I do agree that different memories enter into making the self, and that we come into each existence with lessons to learn.  Some are easy and some can be very difficult. Much of our mission is remembering who we really are beyond our physical bodies.  How we address those opportunities during our current time on earth will determine how we leave to go  Home, and eventually we evolve to the point where we come back to help, or stay to help, or experience even broader opportunities to help in the great scheme of things that is beyond our limited human consciousness - more in the realm of love than of mind.

You practice being yourself by being yourself.  I don't think there is another way.  I may not be good at it and it may be risky, but it's worth it.  And the alternative is to not be myself, and what sense does that make.  I think it was Joseph Campbell who said "Being your self is the privilege of a lifetime."  I also see it as my responsibility.  If I don't be myself, I and the world are deprived of me.  My being creative is my being my unique self, offering my unique perspective, sharing my unique experience, which offers my meaning to what is happening.  I don't think all that is is meaningless -- I think it just is.  I do think that my being myself offers my unique expression and touch and meaning, and no one else can do that.  This I have learned by being myself more and more over time.  As someone said, "If not me, then who?  If not now, when?"  The culture tries to get each of us to get in line, be numbers or robots in the social machinery, and it's important to find time and ways to be oneself, be creative, and stay alive.

 Excellent article. Paradoxically I practice being myself by not practicing but rather by being myself with my flaws and warts.. Paradoxically again, being creative is not being creative when one is just being oneself. By that I mean "trying" to be myself or "trying" to be creative is not being myself and not being creative. If I were myself and and creative I would not need to "try." This again relates to the paradox that it takes much effort to move toward effortless living. I am now considered "an old man" but I find that I am still learning to be myself. Sometimes I extend effort and sometimes I don't. As the old saying goes sometimes I sits and thinks and sometimes I just sits.. Being aware is the key to being yourself and being creative. wanting to know too much in advance what will happen before it happens prevents one from being oneself and prevents one from being creative. Simply notice your noticing while you are noticing and accept what you notice. If you want to change something. Change it. If you don't, don't.  As usual, you may notice I don't know much and I find that to be just fine. For me I find there's often nothing to know, nothing to attain, nothing to realize for everything is fine as it is. I often find that if I allow events to happen rather than make them happen that I am more of myself and I am simultaneously than more creative.Warm and kind regards to everyone.