Do not go where the path may lead,
go instead where there is no path
and leave a trail.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
This post is for the Silver Threading Blog Writer’s Quote Wednesday. You can see her post HERE.
Ralph Waldo Emerson was a “think outside the box” person and I have always admired that about him. He was one of the first people I read about in high school that encouraged thinking in new ways, even if those ways may not be regularly accepted by the crowd.
If my memory serves me correctly, I chose Emerson for a project but reading him was not given on a class list. The public schools that I have experience with do not encourage “outside the box” thinking, but rather conformist thinking that serves to make proper drones for society.
There are individual people in the world that want others to conform to their beliefs and the narrative of reality they create. This also occurs on a much larger scale with governments, and some certain churches and offshoots of religions. In some ways certain moderate to large organizations use brainwashing tactics to control and manipulate their members.
I believe that the more we allow people to think for us the less we are creating our own perceptions of reality. The more we just agree with the reality and the narrative that other people write, the less empowerment we have over our own lives, our own beliefs, and our own path based on our individual values.
It is very important for each of us to evaluate things for ourselves. When someone tells you “YOU should….” then you can think about what they are saying and decide if you really SHOULD or not.
I love the advice that Teal Swan gives in her talks, which is to ask yourself one simple question…”What would someone who loves themselves do?”
This is not to say not to care about other people. Nor am I saying to cross other people’s boundaries.
What I am saying to to Not Allow Other People to Cross Your Boundaries.
This includes interfering with your beliefs and also interfering with your ability to act in accordance with your own beliefs and values.
Your writing will flourish once you begin to write from your own emotions, thoughts, beliefs and values. Even fiction stories can come out of one’s own perceptions and imagination.
Your writing should be YOU in some way. It should be unique because you are unique and there is no one quite like you anywhere in the world.
GentleKindness 