It seems that recently, I am running into more and more people who are tired of the “rat race” that is American life. More people seem to be getting disillusioned with the idea that for the rest of their lives they are going to have to sell their time for money often doing things that they have little to no interest in. Some of them are responding by starting their own businesses. Some are responding by taking more time off to be with their loved one and cultivating a que sera sera mindset. And some are spending more time doing creative endeavors in order to cultivate their talents. The happiest people I know are people who have somehow managed to do all three at once. And the saddest are those people who have already given up and are just burying their heads until they get laid off or die. Then there are people like me who are stumbling their way through this life picking up clues as I go and shifting as necessary. Then of course there are also those people who just love making money for money’s sake. They’ll be fine no matter what because frankly they aren’t thinking about any of this stuff I am talking about anyway, so there’s no conflict and they will always do whatever they have to do to survive–by hook or by crook.
Click for more images
So, If you watched the video, you know that the point I am trying to make in this post is that we become what we profess. While many of us think of our “profession” as our job, it more accurately has to do with the vows we make in life with our words, work, deeds, and our very being. Even though most of us Americans seem to define ourselves by our jobs, very few of us give much thought to the fact that often we cease to be people, and rather, become extensions of our jobs. In essence we are slaves. Sure, you could say that we are free, but if we were really free we would know that we have a choice about whether or not or at least how we would like to participate in this people project that is our country. But really how many of us feel free? If we were free, we would profess that above other things. And more of us would allow ourselves to cultivate the God given talents and gifts that each of us have. But instead, most of us just do what we are advised to do by external sources. We become such a big part of the production line that even our desires are manufactured. I’m convinced that most of us don’t even really want the things we think we want or even like the things we say we like. We have just been professing the status quo so much that we can’t tell what we really feel or desire. Maybe I’m wrong, but if I’m not and you want to shift, what can we do about it? Well I think it all starts with imagination. Creating a world from within and then professing it without.
Recently I got to learn more about one of the parents from the bus stop where I drop off my daughter in the morning. She happens to be an artist. In our brief conversations, I was able to learn a little about the different types of art she does. Her art is very eclectic and very thought provoking. What really amazed me was that her work invited me into spaces I had never seen, because she created art that I would have never conceived of like the one above. When I saw this picture and some of her other work, I felt this sense of relief. I was just happy to see so many out of the box works. It reminded me that within each of us is this infinite resource of creativity and imagination. I look at my daughter and hr friends and remember that it is something that we are all born with and as youths we profess the limitless nature of our being. But then one day we start professing that we are this or that and then the more we say it the more we become it. After a while we forget how much more we are. We profess, “I am a teacher, a parent, a divorcee, a home owner, a vacationer, a Pats Fan… yadda yadda yadda.” And that’s it. That’s all we seem to be. But that’s not all we are. We are so much more.
Because I choose to experience myself as more, I am professing it to others that they are more. I’m at the point where I don’t even care if anyone is listening. I am just going to profess it because I know that I will become whatever I profess–that is I will become the vows I make through my words, works, deeds, and very being. I also know that if I hang out with other who are professing that they are more than the work they do or the roles they play, then this awareness will be even more established in me. Does that make sense? Well if so, reach out. With all these forms of communication, there’s no excuse for more people willing to make this profession not connecting.
Seriously Tripping Through Life 