Getting Real...

I was in fact suppose to post this a little over two weeks ago....I do believe everything happens for a reason, and had I posted it then despite my best efforts it would have been incomplete. Let me explain why; while I have been practicing "getting real" there have been a series of events in the last two weeks that really tested my initial thoughts on this subject. So now I can come to you, not only with suggestion and ways to practice, but with some results as well.
Now, on to getting real.... We wear many faces, this is not a bad thing. We have certain faces for family, due to patterns that have been established over the years. We have a face for friends, sometimes many, depending on the the nature of the friendships. We have our professional face, for what society thinks is acceptable to fit into a larger collective consciousness. So I sat down and wrote out all the different faces, or masks I wear. Again, we all do this. And it is important to note we do it with the best of intentions, and to achieve the best possible outcome for any scenario we find ourselves in. But here's the problem, we are only showing a portion of ourselves. So lets change the word of face to mask. The very image of mask, is something we wear to cover part of ourselves, just as we do with clothing. Why do we wear them? Protection. Let us ask protection for who? For ourselves, or for others? Maybe sometimes both. The portion we do show either comes from ego, thinking it's what will serve best; Fear, because we are scared others might not understand our true selves; Habit, because it is what we have been taught to do and therefore have always done, and we do what we think works. But Again, I challenge you. First I challenged myself. We deserve to show our true selves for our own well being, other people deserve our whole self, and lastly so does the world.
Most of us probably think, we do know our whole self...I know I did....until I realized I didn't. You can't know something unless you take an interest in it. Until you know and are comfortable with the good the bad and the ugly. If we don't accept certain things about ourselves, how are others ever going to understand it, much less see it? This is where we make a conscious effort to see all of ourselves, all the time. Again, because we need to, we deserve to.This is where practice begins.... And how you choose to do it, only you know. But if we can release the burden of the luggage we carry full of all these "Masks" to pull out whenever we feel like we need need them ends. Because as long as we carry our masks, we are depriving most importantly ourselves and others from the beautiful uniqueness and gifts we have to offer. We deny ourselves resources from source, and we deny others authenticity. This is what is happening, and this is a direct result of the situations we find ourselves in despite our best efforts not to.
I wish I could tell you getting real is easy, that you receive a sense of clarity instantly, and that everyone reacts positively. It would be a lie. Which brings to me to the word "lie" - we lie to ourselves a little each day, sometimes we lie to others, and when we put on our correct "masks" for the right circumstances, well that is the most harmful lie of all. At this point, I am willing to bet some of you are very uncomfortable with this. Please keep reading....
I know I was. When I decided to sit down and write down all the masks I wore, I felt fake, vulnerable, and all of the sudden untrustworthy of myself not to tow the higher line I had been gifted, one main reason was fear of failure and success. The other was sheer disappointment in how I had treated myself. Trust was a big issue as well. If I didn't trust my true self would be accepted, and had never shown it, then all of my relationships held a sense of false representation. And while if I lost anyone or anything, it wouldn't mean much because after all, they didn't know the "real' me and if they had I wouldn't have had these relationships at all. That left me feeling like a thief. I had to be a certain way, other then my truest self to try and deserve the relationships I had. That's a scary thought!! And a very hurtful one. But most importantly, a way none of us should have to live.
But I am willing to bet this is how a lot of us live, and have so for so long, we have forgotten about it. We are taught very young to mold ourselves into what society at large accepts to fit in, and what exactly are we "fitting in" to? A larger collective state of being. I am writing this because if we look around, at the chaos, the illness, the budget issues, the average state of mind, the sadness, pain, inefficiency, misunderstandings, wars, all of our worldly surroundings....it isn't a pretty picture. Never mind, what we are doing to ourselves and our lands. Is this really the larger collective state we want to be a part of? How is it working for us? Do you wake up happy ready to seize the day, feeling authentic, energized and ready to face the day and make a difference, or do you wake up tired, exhausted even with your mind racing about things that may go wrong before your even fully awake? Let me assure you, not only are we robbing ourselves, we are robbing a higher sense of collective awareness that would actually make a difference. But we can''t go out and change the world unless we are willing to start with ourselves.
This is where I started....just with myself. I might add it took awhile. Remember that list of masks I made, I picked it up and put it down several times. But as I withdrew from that larger collective state of being and decided to just look at myself individually is where it started. It started, if you've read my blogs because i was completely responsible for being off track, and I asked for it all to stop. And that is where my "real" work began. I had been gifted a cleared table, and I am sure that what I choose to place on it matches my truest self, win lose or draw. The good news is I know exactly what I have. I know I consciously chose it, and again most importantly, I know I deserve it! Without a mask!! If this touched you in any way, please stay tunes for my next blog, I am going to share how I did it. It might work for you, it might not....but there are unlimited ways to achieve it, and I will list all that I know.
My mission is this, the truth is there is power in numbers. And while we are so much stronger then we might believe we are, when we gather together we can create a collective state of being that serves us much better then what we are masking and settling for now.
Lastly, I have to say I am blessed to be surrounded by people that have already done this work, and much gratitude goes to them for when I "got stuck" So I know some of you are reading this and saying Nichole, tell me something I don't know-to you I say Thank you. But I am sure there are others that do want to know more, or even have an interest in how I removed the masks. And maybe you know some too.... So I humbly ask to share my blog, and my posts so we can walk together.....towards what we really want. The next blog is the practice and the art of doing this.....
With much much love,
A girl and her Dog (after all, it was Dudley who showed me- we needn't wear masks, he never has and he never will. In gratitude for my daily furry reminder!!