WHO ARE YOU?

Okay, I just coincidently watched a re-run of the Oprah show today, while eating lunch, where she interviewed Hollywood Director, Tom Shadyac about his documentary movie entitled "I am" ( www.iamthedoc.com). If his name doesn't ring a bell, then I'm sure some of his movies sure do, like Ace Ventura, The Nutty Professor, Bruce Almighty and Liar Liar. Now I can't concentrate on anything else, but all these questions that his interview have stirred up in me once again and I'm compelled to stop everything I was about to do to write about it in this blog, you could say it sparked the conversation within me..... which brings me to the beginning.....

(before you read on my blog, you may want to take a look at the trailer for the documentary)

WHO ARE YOU?

How would you answer this question? Would you begin with "I am (insert your name)", or would you reply "I am a successful lawyer", or "I am a fat blonde who loves to watch reality tv shows".

I personally think it would be interesting how one would answer this question, if they stop themself after their statement, and analysed it, would it be a direct insight into one's mind, on how they perceive themself, or is their perception of themself, more a creation or perception of how they believe society would answer that question for them.

In case you missed it, the words that begin to state who you are, namely "I AM", is probably the most powerful phrase there is. I first took notice of the power of these words, when I read the book "The Secret" and they brought home to me the significance of those two little words

"I AM".

For some its synonymous with the Creator, but what it actually does, is summon creation by declaration. You are in essence, making a declaration of who you are. And that is very powerful and just as crucial. You say something negative, well then, you are pretty much sentencing yourself, limiting yourself to a negative frame of mind and perception about yourself and your potential.

I haven't yet watched the actual documentary of Tom Shadyac's, but from what he explained, the documentary is not to answer your own personal question, of who are you, but to stir the conversation of the global problems, what is wrong with this world and what can we do about it. He reached clarity in his life through a bike accident. He had it all - mansions, private jets, the lifestyle we all dream about and aspire to and he has given it up all for a lot simpler life.
As he explained, our current culture dictates to us what is success and if we don't fit into that definition, then we are a failure by definition, or not happy unless we have achieved society's definition of success - the big house, the expensive clothes, the profession, the extravagant lifestyle, 18 hour days working hard to make that "successful life" real.

I've written about it in past blogs, but our society and culture today is one of consumarism, constant wanting MORE MORE AND MORE and we just don't seem to be ever satisfied. We think the more stuff we have, the more gadgets that we surround ourselves, that it will fill us, satisfy us, make us happy. And we just don't seem to get it, when we can't stop consuming, that it is really not working. Its not the solution.

Another aspect of this consumarism, is another word that begins with "c" - celebritism. We seem so fascinated and crazily obssessed (if we actually defined it, it would be outright stalking) with the lives of celebrities. In the past a celebrity was someone who's talent or achievement was celebrated, now it seems anyone can become a celebrity, all you seem to need is your 15 minutes of fame, or to be on a reality tv series and viola! instant stardom. We as consumers feed this industry of manic celebrity worship and stalking, by the magazines, tabloids, blogs, newspapers, tv shows that we watch. We want to be them, we wish our lives were like theirs, we want their latest hairstyle or their latest handbag. It honestly makes me sick the way we obssess about other people's lives, and spend less time on our own life, becoming a better person, working on our "real life" relationships, rather than these "wanna be" relationships with celebrities.

Think about it, if you were to really dig deep and anaylse the things that make you happy in this world, its not all the "stuff" you own or want to own, its the relationships you have. Our relationships with people, animals and the environment is what brings wealth and authenticity to our life and who we are as a person. Its the laughter, the compassion, the support, the tears and the love that we feel, breathing meaning and purpose to our life. Take what you need to live out a beautiful, fruitful and meaningfull life.

Tom Shadyac, said in his interview "We don't need to take more than we need", and that it seems out of all the species on this planet, that we as humans always want more than we actually need. Think of it, the lion does not go out killing all the gazelles, it just kills one to feed it's hunger and live day to day. The gigantic tree in the rainforest doesn't absorb all the soil's nutrients, selfishly preventing the other trees and plants from growing. No! It just takes what it needs. St Augustine said "Find out how much God has given you and from it take what you need; the remainder is needed by others".

More and more scientists are discovering that the basis of nature is cooperation and democracy. That we cannot live selfishly, but collectively. It seems the human species has yet to learn and apply this knowledge and instead applies a culture or value system on rivalry and competitiveness. You've all heard it, "its the survival of the fittest", "every man for himself". We've all seen the surge in bullying and bullies in the news. Its not like bullies never existed but we seem to have forgotton that bullies aren't born, but are nutured by society and the environment they are in and we all know now that all bullies ever wanted more than the rest of us, is to be accepted and loved.

LOVE - It always comes back to this word doesn't it.

The fact of the matter is, that every past civilisation that lived on that mentality of self-preservation to the point of selfishness, destroyed itself ultimately. The key to survival is actually a collective consciousness, of cooperation, sharing, democracy and balance. We are all connected, its a proven fact. One little act of today, has a ripple effect on tomorrow. Our lives are intricately interconnected. We may not see it like that, but in fact it is, what you say and do, will affect someone, probably someone you don't necessarily know or have seen, but it all goes full circle. Even more so, when you think about it, the Internet acts like a collective conscious in connecting millions of people from around the world.

And if you take this belief that we are all ONE, that we are all connected, then you know that we have the power to make change. Charles Haamel said "The real secret of power is consciousness of power". When we really realise and believe in the power that we each hold in our hands, to make a difference, to effect positive change, to affect the person next to us, then that is when you will really see the power of change in the world around us.

Just think back on all the natural disasters we've had in the world, the floods in Queensland, the fires in Victoria, the earthquakes in Chile, Japan and New Zealand, just to name a few. Think back of the images we saw of the devastation and the people's lives in danger, the animals and wildlife destroyed. Do you remember how those images on the newsfeed made you feel? Did you well up inside, did it make your eyes water, your heart ache, or you felt like screaming at outrage of the injustice and suffering? Well, if you felt something, anything at all, it prooves how much more we are connected to each other. Here you are looking at video or images of complete strangers in another part of the world, a different skin tone or culture from yours, and yet you felt something for them in their suffering or elation. Its this compassion that we describe as part of the human spirit and what it is to be human.

We are all related to each other, despite the different hair, eye colour or skin tone, culture or belief system. That is the plain fact. We are one big family and we should act more like a family. We should put aside what ever differences we have and let love reign supreme. Love is the essence of life, it is what keeps this planet alive. If we didn't have love, we would have all killed off each other by now and everything else on this planet, if we didn't have love. Perosnally, I think we just need more of it.

But some would say, if we are like one big family, then everyone knows that even families have wars and rivalry and yet still love each other. True, but love overcomes rivalry. If we truly loved each other unconditionally, we would accept each other for who we are, put aside our differences and let us exist...in harmony, in peace, because we would know and have faith, that nature has given us enough to live by to be happy, if we believe there is enough of everything for all of us, then we would not be fighting to have more of what the other has less of.

I think St Augustine was a lot wiser than most of us give him credit for, when he described what Love is.... "What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like."

So instead of buying into what society dictates makes us happy and successful.... Follow your heart's greatest desire. Only when your heart is happy, then you are happy and everything else will fall into place. I should know, I took a big leap of faith a few months ago, resigning my bread and butter job to pursue photography. Taking photos as simple as that sounds, makes me happy. Its the freedom to be creative that makes me most happy and to share it with the ones that love and support me. So far, to be honest, I'm barely making a living from it, but I'm still happy and I guess at some point in time, we just got to just go for it, take that leap in faith, that when we jump, we'll land on our feet. But retrospectively, I can say whether following my heart and my dreams, makes me a living from it, or ever eventuates anything more than just taking photos, by going in all for it, and letting go of all my fears and limitations, its teaching me more about myself, as a person, my strengths and limitations and what I want and what makes me happy. And trust me, its a struggle every day. Every day I am faced with my fears, fears of failure, fears of not being accepted, fears of my photography work not being good enough, fear of not making enough money to pay my debts off, and the biggest fear of all, is that I'll have to give it up and go "get a real job" like some would say.

So now it brings me back to the original question - "WHO ARE YOU?"

Now that we each know we have the power within ourselves to make ourselves happy and the power to make a positive change in the world around us, then I ask you - "Who are you and what mark of difference are you going to leave on the world"

And finally, remember, past experience does not dictate your future. Your past is only an excuse you use, when you are afraid to face the potential within you for a bright future.