Most Ordinary

DAY 25

"Good and bad are but names very readily transferable to that or this; the only right is what is after my constitution, the only wrong what is against it."      – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Prompt:

We are our most potent at our most ordinary. And yet most of us discount our “ordinary” because it is, well, ordinary. Or so we believe. But my ordinary is not yours. Three things block us from putting down our clever and picking up our ordinary:

false comparisons with others

false expectations of ourselves

false investments in a story

Each keep you from that internal knowing about which Emerson writes. Each keeps you from making your strong offer to the world. Put down your clever, and pick up your ordinary.

What are your false comparisons?

What are your false expectations?

What are your false investments in a story?

What are your false comparisons?

I’m not as skinny or in shape as I used to be.

I’m not as good an artist as others are.

I’m not as good a writer as some of my friends are.

What are your false expectations?

I should be eating better and exercising.

I should paint anyway, even with my limitations.

I should write, because I have stories to tell and may be an inspiration to someone.

What are your false investments in a story?

I probably can’t tell this story as good as someone else can.

A publisher isn’t going to want what I write.

My type of style doesn’t “fit” into guidelines of how it “should be”.

The knowledge I’ve gained from this prompt is that it’s okay to be ordinary, average and common.  In other words, it’s okay to be ME.  And, when I am being my ordinary self, this is when I am most powerful.  This is when I allow my light to shine.  This is when I am filled with strength.  This is when I’m inspired to do my best.  This is when my writing will be most effective, and may be a positive influence when I share it with others. 

I’m not quite sure if I’ve followed this prompt the way it was meant to be.  But, this is how I give myself permission to accept my very ordinary self.

Being ordinary is anything but ordinary.

This is when the intensity of my “ME”-power is allowed to do great things, without me getting in my own way.