I mean… Yes.

I’ve done the Forum and the Advanced Course which are two seminars provided by Landmark (in exchange for money) and I feel pretty good. It was like an integration, communication overhaul.

I’ve learned the following things about myself:

• I’m a lot more selfish (entitled, manipulative, self absorbed—but you already gathered that last one) than I thought I was (and I already had come to terms with the very consoling belief that “we are all selfish to a degree, OBV”)
• I don’t listen and I never have because I’m so busy talking
• I assumingly enter situations thinking I already know how things will go, and oftentimes the mind points to a negative resolution because fear of failure is always present and indulged, somewhat religiously
• I would be more capable of manifesting the things I want in my life if it weren’t for the many shackles of the past I choose to carry around with me

That last one is pretty abstract and I get that… but if we think about kids, and how smart they usually are, we can start to see that if we embodied their same craving for curiosity and unabashed expression of spirit, we would realize a potential that frequently remains untapped. I know this isn’t a groundbreaking concept, but it is one worth exploring. Each of us can be invited to entertain how they might perceive the world if they had this fresh pair of eyes, which, in many ways is far more liberating than our tired, cautious eyes would ever allow us to be.

 Kids serve as such an excellent example. They don’t know anything. Sort of… and we foolishly believe that because we teach them the ways of the world, that they act as vessels which we fill with the knowledge we possess. Things like what’s appropriate according to societal convention, what to be careful of, what to fear and what to protect yourself from. Then we try and teach them good stuff too, like what kind of pursuit will turn the odds in your favor and what it means to embody the higher ideals of grace, honor, strength and courage.

 And what’s too bad is these higher ideals mean different things to different people.

 I think we’ll be talking about things like this for a while, there is so much to say. But lets not be sad for this moment of sobriety. Instead we rejoice, for all the expansion, exploration and expression to come!