Buying In & Out Of ‘Not Enough’

Buying In & Out Of ‘Not Enough’

buyin

I don’t want to feel this way any more. I don’t want to feel that I am ‘not enough.’ I want to see how wonderful and amazing I am—and how wonderful and amazing you are. It has been far too long that I have bought into the message that you and I are ‘not enough’ as we are.

In response to these feelings, I’ve decided I’m no longer accepting any message, internal or otherwise, that encourages me or anyone else to believe that who or what or why we are is ‘not enough.’ I’m done buying into it. It’s horseshit and it is created out of our polarized culture that thrives on encouraging us to feel separate, alone, and mindlessly focused on consuming in order to fill the void we’ve created together.

Not enough, not enough, not enough. Buy more, get more, perhaps then it’ll be enough.

I’ve decided to become like a superhero, vigilant to the messages that encourage us to feel like we are not good enough as we are. Fuck these messages, and fuck the cutting voice inside me who actually buys into its bullshit. Only I can give any thing the power to make me feel not good enough. Only I can choose to dis-empower myself. It takes my ‘buy in.’ I’ve decided it’s time I own this.

You and I are so much more than we realize—and that is the real truth. The breadth and heights of what we’re capable of is actually what we need to be reminded of—and yet our dominate culture has a different message. It sells us on ways to be more, better, faster. It fearfully sells us on ‘not enough’ in hopes we will buy into its offerings. It needs us to feel less than, in hopes we’ll feel we need it to feel whole. It’s a never-ending co-dependent see-saw we ride, if we allow it.

I’m buying out of ‘not enough.’ For it’s the only way I can see clearly through the noise and to the heart of my self. Doing my work to release this dominant message, I allow myself the ability to rise to any occasion, confident in knowing I am enough as I am.

photo credit: Ron Mader

A (Creative) Culture in Motion

A (Creative) Culture in Motion

photo credit Glyn Lowe

I received this intriguing question recently from a reader; “Do you know where this (Cultural Creative) concept stands today?”

Where do we, the Cultural Creatives, stand today? From what I observe, we, and our ways of being and doing, are growing quietly. More and more of us are learning about “Cultural Creativity” and resonating with it, and feeling inspired to more deeply connect with their values and others who share them.

I notice that “Cultural Creativity” seems to have grown far larger than the words Paul Ray used (in 2000) to describe this growing culture and movement. There are many words, concepts, and ideas to communicate our ways of being and doing. The philosopher, Ken Wilbur, in my mind has done the most to forward the cultural importance of our consciously growing community. He has written, taught and grown extensively the concept of Integral Culture (and Theory) which is another, and more deeply explored, concept identifying the Cultural Creative way of being and doing. There are schools of thought (an Institute) for Integral approaches to such disciplines as Politics and Ecology.

Personally, I had the pleasure of attending an Integral Coaching program a few year back. It was expanding… and interestingly, it was dominated by Canadian Government employees. It seems the government of Canada is embracing Cultural Creativity in their thinking and approaches. I find that truly exciting!

Beyond Wilbur’s work, I see our Creative Culture emerging everywhere I look. New/old, more conscious approaches to things emerge each day. I can see now what CC’s needed to acknowledge and recognize each other (in 2000, when Ray wrote the book) was a authentic means for connecting in a global way, so we could truly feel our weight and presence. We needed the web, and the time-space to learn and understand its ability to empower us. And now, fifteen years later, it’s old enough that we’re beginning to figure out how to truly connect with each other here.

What do you think?

Where do you feel our Cultural Creative movement?

Email me, I’d love to hear from you.

TJSignature

photo credit: Glyn Lowe