Earlier in the year there were a number of postings on Facebook about what you do in terms of your job or who you are. In case you didn’t see them, they consisted of a series of photographs with captions underneath: What my family thinks I do; what my friends think I do; what I think I do; what I really do, etc.
These postings interested me because of how well they illustrate, in a light-hearted, amusing way the energy we are managing on a daily basis, and how much attention we may or may not pay to that energy.
Very often our response to this barrage of pictures and/or concepts of who we are is unconscious. We may not even be aware that we are the effect of this energy until we consciously stop and take a look.
Consider this – when you go to work, how much of your energy is involved with responding to the concepts, ideas or pictures your boss, co-workers or customers have about you?  For instance, whether you are married or not, whether or not you have children, where you come from – your background, cultural heritage, etc. – your age, your looks, your clothes, how long you have been working at that job, how well you perform at work, your track record…..
Or – when you attend a family reunion, or other family event, what expectations do you meet? Are you being weighed, measured and assessed for how you fit with the family line and traditions – how far are you deviating, or are you indeed keeping up appearances, in other words matching the picture of who and what you should be?
Could it be that you dread family get-togethers because of this energy you are facing? Or would you give anything to take a day off work because you have changed and outgrown the picture of who you were when you were hired?
Conversely, have you become so attached to the validation, admiration and respect of your role within the family, in your work, in your relationship that you have lost sight of who you really are?
The process of learning and growing through a physical body – that of a “spiritual being having a human experience” (Pierre Teillard de Chardin) – is rife with twists and turns, obstacles and pitfalls, situations where we are challenged to stay true to ourselves and connected to our truth.
At times, our life path can seem so challenging, so full of obstacles, that it is simpler, easier and safer to accept a picture or role that we are handed, than it is to continue to beat back the undergrowth and clear the way for our autonomy.
I invite you to try this - find a mirror, preferably full-length, in a place where you can be alone, and take some time to look at yourself. Who and what do you see? Look beyond the initial image, beyond the pictures of who you are and say hello to the core of your being, to your spiritual essence and notice how that feels.
You might be surprised at what you see and become aware of, or it might feel remarkably comfortable -Â like coming home.
The appearances you are keeping up are nothing more than energetic images given you by others and can be removed as simply as layers of clothing!
Unveil and be yourself!
Photos courtesy of morgue.file and flickr.