What is your essence? What do you think of that defines you? Can you describe yourself in 5 words that define your true essence? Better yet, ask 8 to 10 others to come up with 5 words or so that define you? What if these were people you just met, hardly knew?
This weekend we did this experiment and I was amazed at the 'results' to these questions:
What shows up when I do?
What qualities enter the room when I do?
Just be prepared for a wide variety of answers but when you take a look at all peoples words for you, it will be clear that there are indeed a few that show up consistently.
I like the others had many different words appear, approximately 25 different words from 8 people. They were dwindled down by yet another person to 5, which were
My 5 according to the Group:
Confident, Passionate, Driven, Fun/playful, and Grounded.
Now, recently I made a post called Who I am, What I be and these were not the words I came up with of what I would like to 'project' and hope that others see when they see me.
Now, truly it is what it is and does not matter. What does matter is that you take it all with a grain of salt, smile, reflect, appreciate, and ask why it is these people see me this way, am I truly this person, what is it that I do that makes people see this in me or at least describe me this way?
Keep in mind that these are by no means to me negative words or words that I am not honored to be called. I view them as a very positive description.
NEXT STEP
From here you evaluate how you use your essence in 4 different areas
Family/Friends
Work
Significant Other
Self
What is interesting in this portion of the exercise is how you show up in each of these areas. Are you your essence (whether your own words or those of others) in each area? I know I have a tendency to show my essence in certain areas and not so well in others. The key is to be your essence in all areas. This is easier said than done and I will explain this (from my viewpoint) in another post which is an observation, a key one for me that I had this past weekend.
(Note: These observations happen often, this particular post I will write about will take a look at the importance of Meditation as a tool for helping to be your essence at all times (or at least 90+ percent of the time which is awesome!)
This is by no means a small task for many of us. Evaluating and describing yourself in a big deal and having others participate even more so. But, I will say this, it is rewarding and I am certain the class as a whole will agree and you too if you give it a chance ;-).
1 comment:
OMG! Thank you so much for writing that - It kind of opened a new door in my mind - I have never thought of my essence like that - it really got me thinking and reflecting... and as ridiculous as it sounds - I burst out laughing once I came up with the 5 words .. I guess for me these words could keep changing as I keep growing! One thing is for sure - I know how people see me and what they think of me - sometimes its matches who I am and sometimes it doesnt. And either way it doesnt bother me. I know who I am in my core and I will represent that to the best of my abilities! But dont you think that in some way its impossible to really totally comprehend another human being (& his or her essence)? Well not through the mind at least - may be if you find a way to connect with another human being totally with the spirit - beyond the judgment of the mind - then I guess you wouldnt need to come up with any words - You would be speechless! ;-)
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