Bold-faced thoughts on the power of self-expression
Without trust in our own truth it is impossible to navigate into a preferred future which we have no personal relationship with.
In Walt Whitman's 'Leaves of Grass' there is a beautiful line in "Song of Myself" section that I thought offers unexpected relevance:
"Talk honestly, for no one else hears you, and I stay only a minute longer."
This particular Walt Whitman poem is a reflection on his own mortality and this line in can be interpreted as some sage advice on how to live a truer version of yourself.
Honesty
So much of our 'self-expression' carries with it an underlying intention to project a fictitious image of control, or to sell something that we assume will be of social benefit to ourselves.
It's labelled as self-expression, but very little of the 'true self' of its creator is included.
In its defence of the 'true self' it is inauthentic and lacks uniqueness.
But who ultimately is being deceived? And what effect does this have on our sense of self?
Inauthentic self-expression blurs our own vision of self and ultimately what our truth is. Done often enough, our truth is lost in the noise that we create.
Without trust in our own truth it's not possible to navigate into a preferred future that is foreign to us.
Ironically in a sea of commonplace inauthenticity nobody is listening to each other in any case, and those that are...soon forget what was said.
Being honest and truthful with ourselves is a bold step in the building of confidence in our own desires and visions of the future.
Only by knowing what our own desirable success looks like are we able to generate the kind of motivation to execute the action steps to achieve our desires.
Song of Myself, 51 - by Walt Whitman
The past and present wilt—I have fill’d them, emptied them.
And proceed to fill my next fold of the future.
Listener up there! what have you to confide to me?
Look in my face while I snuff the sidle of evening,
Talk honestly, no one else hears you, and I stay only a minute longer.
Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
I am large, I contain multitudes.
I concentrate toward them that are nigh, I wait on the door-slab.
Who has done his day’s work? who will soonest be through with his supper?
Who wishes to walk with me?
Will you speak before I am gone? will you prove already too late?