My Vision

Some things are best kept quiet.  It’s better to just shut our mouths at times than fill the void with meaning-making blabber.  The Spartans lived by this rule.  They were warriors of doing rather than speaking.  This is what made them the fiercest city in Greece at one time.  Then they opened their mouths…

Theodore Roosevelt magnified the understanding to “speak softly and carry a big stick.”  King Solomon had three very powerful reflections of wisdom:

1)   “When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise.” (Proverbs 10:19)

2)   “He who despises his neighbor lacks sense, but a man of understanding keeps silent.” (Proverbs 11:12)

3)   “Even a fool, when he keeps silent, is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is considered prudent.” (Proverbs 17:28) 

I’ve been very careful about broadcasting my thoughts and intentions.  I know once I say something the words can't be taken back, and they could be used or abused as people please.  Maybe that’s not my problem.

As I’m progressing through my upper 20s and many may wonder why I’m not married, have any children, or am surrounded by my loved ones, I think this would be the ideal time to make my intentions known.  This is by no means a secret.  People have heard me talking about my vision for years.  It’s part of my everyday conversation.  As my grandest vision, it should be.  I’ve told many about my various dreams in life.  What I’m writing about in this post is my bigger dream, my calling, or what I’ve referred to before, my Personal Legend.

The Core of My Vision:

So, what is at the core of my life?  Firstly, I consider myself a Transcendentalist.  An even more accurate description, I consider myself a mystic.  Does being a mystic require public approval?  I don’t think so.  The belief that “the majority is always right,” is just that, a belief.  The greatest minds were first rejected by the majority.  They all experienced an inner awakening that got them laughed at, rejected and/or killed.  I believe that when people start to identify with groups or institutions, they put on invisible shades of perception that potentially blinds them of inner awareness.  They never lose individual awareness, it just gets suppressed.  Calling myself a “Transcendentalist” or a “mystic” is a sort of paradox.  When a mystical experience is institutionalized to a belief or an identity, the experience becomes less grand.  There is a difference between “belief” and “knowing.”  “Belief” is external, an expression of ones perceptions and views by words of mouth.  “Knowing” is an inner state of consciousness, a connection with the Divine.  Knowing is only experienced through the awakening of the inner self, resulting in the observation of the created self and the transcendence of suffering.  No authority but God can awaken this reality.  I want to stress:  my own truths are my own knowing.  Somebody may know something that I don’t, and in those cases, I’m unaware in that sphere of life.  The things I do know, however, the things that I’m awakened to, are what I want to express throughout my life.

I intend to be a teacher of wisdom and spirituality to the world, not coming as a figure of authority, but as someone who merely points the way for people to experience their own mystical awakening and therefore be empowered to live this gift of life at its grandest.  It hurts me to see so many people suffering.  This last year seems to have intensified that experience.  But it hurts me even more to see those who are suffering who aren’t aware of the power they have within themselves to change the pattern.  It hurts me when victimization has taken over the mind of those striving to “get out” of the life they continue to create.  They strive for happiness, but they just don’t seem to get there.  We’ve been taught over and over by original mystical thinkers that there is not a place in time or space but a place within the self.  The grass is not always greener on the other side; the grass is greener on the inside.  Maybe instead of striving for something more we need to let go.  Maybe instead of adding more baggage to the flight with the hopes of balancing the plane, we need to get rid of all the weight that’s keeping it grounded.

As I’m sitting here in Mongolia, I realize I’m actually living my dream.  I’m living in a foreign country, meeting tons of new people, learning a second language (sort of), living on my own on a quest for self-realization.  If I can live my dream, anybody could.  Don’t get me wrong: there are good days and bad days, just like back home.  Even the most enlightened and happiest people on earth have their down days.  We’re all human.  It’s the response to adversity that decides if an individual thrives or dies.   “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.  And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing,” (James 1:2-4).  Adversity is our greatest teacher and our greatest chance of awakening.  When the response to adversity is to close oneself off and add more barriers between our minds and our inner selves, we’re denying our own truth.  In the end, all barriers will be removed, regardless of whether we’re awakened or continue to be sheep.  The goal is to experience awakening in this life.  Tick tick tick.

Of course, there’s more that I want.  Back in the States, I wanted this international experience.  Here, I want even more.  That is the American ideal and upbringing of greed.  But I’m realizing this is it.  This present moment I’ve been blessed with.  It doesn’t matter if I’m here, in Washington, or in the mountains of Tibet.  I’m living my vision now.  That’s all that exist.  I don’t want to waste one second thinking of it as something to be achieved or put off for a future date.  Life is short, and I intend to see the whole universe in every second.  Now for my individual dreams within my vision.

MY VISION:  TO BE A WORLD-RENOWN TEACHER OF WISDOM AND SPIRITUALITY, NOT AS A FIGURE OF AUTHORITY, BUT AS SOMEONE WHO POINTS THE WAY FOR PEOPLE TO EXPERIENCE THEIR OWN MYSTICAL AWAKENING AND BE EMPOWERED TO LIVE LIFE AT ITS GRANDEST.

Dreams to enhance my vision:

1.     Peace Corps/International experience.  On a journey of self-realization and self-actualization.  Continuing to learn more about myself and the world beyond America.

2.     Publication of numerous books, articles and blogs.  Become a Best-Selling author.  Draw interest from numerous radio stations, television broadcasts and talk shows to magnify my vision.  Have a large personal library where I continuously study.  Have a grand piano in the study where I can contemplate.

3.     Getting two Masters degrees in Transpersonal Psychology and Education and Leadership.  Raise my credibility to the public eye (though I’m forking thousands into the hands of the already-wealthy).

4.     Teaching experience/coaching experience.  Involvement and teaching of the young generation.  They’re the world’s next leaders.  What better way to implement change than to inspire the next generation’s leaders?  As a school administrator, leading a revolution of transformative education (holistic/whole brain education).

5.     Buying, owning and running a hostel in Central America.  This is not only a vacation spot during the summer months where I’ll meet people from all over the world; it’s a place where I will do the majority of my writings for my books.  As a family business, we’ll all continue to have countless experiences together.

6.     International speaker and life coach.  I will teach on the principles presented in my books, which stem from my vision.  Schools, seminars, conferences.

7.     Anna’s Kin Ministry.  Continuous writing of songs and holding concerts.  The continuation of a legacy left by my Great-Grandmother of bringing love to the world.

8.     Family historian and keeper of family relics. Preserving the memories of the past.  We are our ancestors.  Family is not necessarily blood-related.  It’s those who have helped us uncover our own truths.  For me, it is my family.

9.     Alternative living.  Little desire of being indebted for the rest of my life in a housing payment, which is temporarily owned and continues to be thrown into the vicious cycle of buying and selling.  There is no real ownership in the physical realm, just shared space.  What is my choice for alternative living?  That is yet to be clarified.

10. Family.  The value of family, my strongest relationships and my greatest feelings and expressions of love.  I intend to get married and have kids- someday.  The possibility is not something I fear of losing the older I get. 

I have lived a great life.  The transitions have been tough.  It’s those tough times that I value the most and have taught me the greatest truths about myself.  I am on a journey, and every day is a new step on that journey. 

Are you living life to its fullest?  Are you focused on every step that you’re taking?  If you have spent years in restlessness, torment, and/or suffering, are you ready to let go of those bags you’ve been carrying around and embrace the beauty and grandness of life that is right in front of you?  Don’t wait; do it now.