40 Days of Self Appreciation

I want freedom from attachment and resistance, and freedom from guilt, blame, shame, and resentment. I want joy, peace, laughter, happiness, contentment, ecstasy and bliss. I want to share in the co-creation of value and wealth. I want to be of service in my community, and I want to feel as though my contribution matters. I want to feed people’s hearts and minds, provide them with shelter and warmth. I want to create the space for allowing all things to flow, as a great valley, and to keep my word with the unshakeable integrity of a mountain. I want unbounded positive energy, drive, and passion. I want to be fit and trim and be a peak performer. I want a bright smile and glowing radiant skin. I want to give freely with no expectation of reward. I want to be a lifelong learner. I want friends and companions having a shared set of values with whom to gain memorable experiences. Friends, clients and colleagues love me because I am kind, thoughtful, intelligent, and trustworthy. The woman of my dreams is caring, empathetic, free-spirited, intuitive, smart, funny and healthy in body and mind.

This is aimed at thinkers, feelers, diplomats and skeptics alike, those seeking answers but for whom traditions and conventional wisdom couldn’t paint the whole picture, who can’t help but take media and advertising with a large grain of salt, who know that there’s more to life than a job, a house, and a car with the occasional vacation. My work is to reposition the individual in the heart of experience and in the driver’s seat of life, not just a passenger along for the ride, to decondition the convoluted psyche to cultivate space for being and the freedom to create, to cultivate compassion, to induce a positive self trance, and to be a guided meditation.

I aim to write only when I am inspired to do so. If I’m having a block, I won’t attempt to force words. My creativity has no timeframe or deadline. It must be spontaneous. However, I feel it’s important to make a habit of writing, to make it a regular practice. It shall be done when it’s done. You can’t rush art. Can a task that needs completing be considered art? I produce content for my own enjoyment and not to meet outside expectations. The minute I feel I am externally motivated is the minute it feels like work. If my writing helps one person, then I feel I have given something of value. And in fact, that one person is me. Writing and sharing content helps bring clarity to my motivations and keeps me honest and accountable. I loathe hypocrisy, so publishing my work forces me to practice what I preach. Through action, learning, and reflection I am able to accelerate my growth. My willingness to share comes from my own desire for self-improvement. Putting my work out in the open is a way for me to find and create communities who can encourage and empower each other using positive psychology.

I come from the school of introverts. We are the masters of the inner game, and will happily forge our own path without the need for approval. Deep down we want to connect, to feel that our voice is heard, albeit rarely the loudest voice. We know that, in a time of information abundance, whosoever searches for answers will find them after all in their calm and quiet heart of hearts, in the eyes of a loved one, in a rainy day, and in a good book. Alas, this concludes a lengthy series of blog posts I call "40 Days of Self Appreciation."