Tag Archive - who am I

To Better Myself

August 6, 2012 in The Study with 19 Comments

I’ve been thinking a lot about Project Whitespace, what it means to myself and to readers, and how that all fits in with my writing and who I am.

There’s this whole message out there that blogs should have a focus, and trust me, I have tried at this. But it just isn’t happening the way I originally thought it should. When it comes down to it, I just like to write, and in the end, if that means that my posts and blogs in general won’t be optimized for the web, well, then, I guess that’s ok. So, while I might write about marathons, and I might write about blogging, and I might write about art or some other topic, there are a few streams that I know I often write about, or else, my style reflects the concept. Here they are.

1. Inspiration and encouragement. No matter what I write, I love to be as inspiring and as encouraging to others as I possibly can. It is always my desire to inspire hope, excitement, or self-belief in those who read my posts.

2. Learning. Again, no matter what I write–which comes out of my experiences–I try to see a life lesson in it. Daily, in my random and mundane experiences and in relationships and interactions with others, I ask myself, what is the lesson I can learn from here? I think I’ve done this all my life.

So, while I may not pick a topic and stick to it, I believe I certainly have a style and a voice that stays consistent. I’m happy about that.

These three things come together in an obvious way: as I learn, I share what I learn. What I have discovered, or remembered, or got in the gut of me, I want others to see and learn from as well. And so as I write out what I’ve learned, or what I see, I do so in a way that I hope encourages and inspires you to see the lesson in your own life. The lessons that life doles out to us are meant to help us along our journey. And we can get life lessons in our own experiences, in the teachings of others, and I believe we can get them in our gut–that still, small voice–one that I refer to as God–God whispers.

I titled this post “To Better Myself” because the three things that are consistent in this blog–inspiration, encouragement and learning–are three things that I think make me a better me.

Learning

I believe that if we ever stop learning, we will lose our love of life. Learning is what keeps us young and what keeps us moving forward. If your mind is ready for a lesson, and your heart is open to new experiences and new perspectives, your life will be an adventure. An adventure. So, for this reason, I will always deem myself a student. A student of everything. This helps me to be a better me.

Inspiration and Encouragement

On the other hand, for me personally, I believe that inspiring and encouraging others is just a part of who I am–it’s my calling. It’s what I’m supposed to do. I know this because when I’m doing that, I feel like I’m in a zone. I’m in the sweet spot. It feels good and it feels right. This makes me happy. And so I like to pass along my learning in an inspiring and encouraging way. So, for this reason, I see myself as a teacher. This helps me to be a better me.

Project Whitespace

And so I blog about what I learn, in an inspiring and encouraging way, in order to better myself. I hope when you think of Project Whitespace, you think of a place where you might be inspired, accepted, and encouraged. I hope when you think of it’s author, you see a student, a lover of life, and you see a teacher who wants to pass that love of life along.

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I’m still doing a lot of thinking and soul searching, and I’m hoping you will stick by. There’s not going to be any fireworks or anything, but I’m thinking it might be interesting.

Mother Theresa, Peace Pilgrim and Selflessness

February 8, 2012 in Inspiration, People with 3 Comments

I’ve been thinking a lot about selflessness lately. Selflessness is not easy.

A while back I felt like God wanted me to become more selfless. Go figure. I felt that it was something I should really learn about. But I decided I wasn’t ready to really concentrate on it because I felt for me, that would mean personal sacrifice of some kind. I’m already a pretty good person. I’m kind and generous most of the time. I think.

But this whole selflessness thing kept coming up and I knew it was something I had to pay attention to.

Now, let me step back in time and tell you about two people, two women, who I have always admired since I’ve known about them.

Mother Theresa

Mother Theresa was the first one I was introduced to. You can imagine why I admire her. She gave all that she was to serve those who were less fortunate, the sick and dying, the outcasts. She gave her whole life to this cause and never gave up even though there were times she doubted her whole purpose in all of it. She might seem like a typical sort of person to admire, but I will tell you something about that after I tell you the second person.

Peace Pilgrim

The second person is a little lady who is known as Peace Pilgrim. I discovered her story in the Musselman Library at Bluffton University, where I used to work. From 1953 to 1981, Peace Pilgrim walked the United States with the sole purpose of supporting peace. According to her website, she vowed to “remain a wanderer until mankind has learned the way of peace, walking until given shelter and fasting until given food.” And that is exactly what she did.

Not a Typical Admiration

I told you that Mother Theresa might seem like a typical person to admire. On the other hand, you have probably never heard of Peace Pilgrim until now. Mother Theresa might seem like a typical person to admire, but I don’t admire her in a typical sort of way. The same goes for Peace Pilgrim. For both of these beautiful, strong, women, their lives really speak to me in a powerful way. They aren’t just people I admire and look up to, but their lives are to me the model of the type of person I’m supposed to be. I don’t know what exactly that looks like, but that’s the best way I can express it.

Step back forward with me to the present and this whole selflessness thing.

Two weeks isn’t a long time and certainly not long enough to gain a good habit. But two weeks has been long enough for me to see a sliver of a glimpse of who God wants me to be in this whole selflessness thing. For two weeks, I have taken God up (finally) on this challenge to learn more about selflessness. I did it because it occurred to me that I would never be truly fulfilled if I didn’t explore this concept more deeply. I didn’t know why I knew or thought that, I just did. And in two weeks, my time concentrating on selflessness has been awesome.

Here’s what I have learned about selflessness.

1. Selflessness works.

It just works. It helps in relationships, it helps at work, and it generally makes me happy.

2. Selflessness is not self-sacrifice.

That’s what I thought it was. And while at first you may think it is, it’s just not. Because there is so much that comes back that what you give is a non-issue.

3. Selflessness is not to be feared. It is gentle and good.

4. Selflessness is not for the weak-hearted.

It is gentle, yes, but it is powerful. And I haven’t lived in selflessness long enough to test this but I know in my gut that it takes courage to practice a life of selflessness. I hope I can do it.

I know there is so much more to learn. But here’s something I want to tell you. When I thought about learning about selflessness, I didn’t want to. Like I said, I thought I was basically a kind and generous person. But there is always so much more goodness that you can squeeze out of yourself if you just concentrate and allow wisdom to teach you. And you will be happy you did. As I have done this, I’m getting answers to questions about who I really am, and what type of person I am supposed to be. It made sense that Mother Theresa and Peace Pilgrim are two people I have felt so connected to, because that’s the type of person I’m to be. I believe this strongly. That’s a big endeavor, and I don’t know if I can do it.

So please pray that I do.