Manifesting Your True Self

[razz]

Manifesting one's true self has triggered some thought.

A speaker at a conference years ago presented the idea that what one was really enthusiastic about at the age of 10 approximately would indicate the key interests in one's life. He had wanted to walk across the Sahara when he was a 10 year-old and finally did it in his 20's. That in turn triggered other challenges and directions.

I think that idea has some merit as I now realize that when I have gone back to those 10-year old's interests, I am content. I am doing most of them even today.
As a 10 year-old, I immigrated and
- wanted my own farm
- was intense about life and curious about the world
- love dogs
- love singing and music
- enjoy being in nature
- need continuous physical activity. Sitting still is not an option.
- don't tell me that "I can't" meaning incapable of doing
- respond to vivid colour in needlework, painting.
- need visual stimulation .

Perhaps another who did not go through a huge change at that age may not remember that time as vividly as I do.

[happystuff]

Taking the philosophical approach to this discussion - lol. Change always happens... people, situations, locations, thoughts, actions...change is continuous - whether we recognize and/or acknowledge it or not. I like to think I am living my true, authentic self right now in this instant and I know that I will still be my true, authentic self an hour from now, a day from now, a week from now, etc. My true authentic self is not independent of me - happystuff.

[Zoe Girl]

Funny about the 10 year old thing, i am not sure about that age exactly but I do recall what I wanted when I was younger. I always wanted a day bed and now I have one. I am renting a room for a couple years and didn't want the entire room to be a bed so I got a twin daybed as a bed couch combo.

My crochet students have been women my age or older, most of them have crocheted before and lost the skills but as they get older or retire then they want to take it back up. They have a lot of creativity and pick it up easily. My last student was a super quick learner, she had been a pattern maker in her career.

[catherine]

Manifesting one's true self has triggered some thought.

A speaker at a conference years ago presented the idea that what one was really enthusiastic about at the age of 10 approximately would indicate the key interests in one's life. He had wanted to walk across the Sahara when he was a 10 year-old and finally did it in his 20's. That in turn triggered other challenges and directions.

I think that idea has some merit as I now realize that when I have gone back to those 10-year old's interests, I am content. I am doing most of them even today.
As a 10 year-old, I immigrated and
- wanted my own farm
- was intense about life and curious about the world
- love dogs
- love singing and music
- enjoy being in nature
- need continuous physical activity. Sitting still is not an option.
- don't tell me that "I can't" meaning incapable of doing
- respond to vivid colour in needlework, painting.
- need visual stimulation .

Perhaps another who did not go through a huge change at that age may not remember that time as vividly as I do.

Huh... Yes, that 10-year old theory is exactly why I asked myself the question about "did I abandon the real me?" I love your list, razz. If I were to do the same I'd say that I, at 10, loved to:
-read
-create (as mentioned earlier--paint, draw--it wasn't until I was in my teens that I got into sewing)
-write
-pray (I had an altar in my room at 10)
-listen to cast recordings of 60s musicals and sing and act them out in front of my full-length mirror. Forget Judy Garland--I knew the lyrics to every song she sang on the album Judy At Carnegie Hall (And still know the lyrics to many, especially on Side 4)

Interestingly, one thing I never liked about painting was the fact that the end product had no real utility. I used to wonder, what happens when I have no one left to give a painting to, and I have to store them up in my room??? What good are they?? I was more attracted to crafts that were artful but had some practical purpose. I think that's why I was so into sewing my own clothes in my teens. I probably would have made a great Shaker.


Recently I've taken to drawing botanicals, as a kind of meditative way to deepen my knowledge of flora to serve my new permaculture/gardening interest that has manifested itself over the past 7 years. I think I'm going to try to make those slipcovers and see if I'm bored or energized in the process. And, of course, designing and cultivating gardens is a great creative exercise.

[Lainey]

For me, I've come to realize that I live a lot of my life in my head. Meaning, I don't do physically adventurous things, or even very many creative things with my hands, but I have a lot that I like to ponder which leads to my spare-time activities like joining in discussion groups or attending presentations or diving into topics with deep reading.
So to an outsider, it looks like my life is very boring: nothing hand-made, no extensive travel, no heavy-duty hiking or biking, etc. But as others have said, at this point in life I'm enjoying helping the next generation with regular babysitting (and occasionally offering my "free advice" ha) and also helping my community with various volunteer projects or opportunities.

In my earlier life I worked full-time, was a single mom, was on 2 professional association boards, helped several adult family members (including 2 veterans) with housing on/off for years, and managed the house/car/job responsibilities for decades without a hitch. Have been happy to lay most of that aside in retirement.

Luckily that fits with simple living because I've never yearned for those experiences or things which cost a lot of money.

[herbgeek]

My 10 year old self liked:

- any kind of music (although all I was exposed to at that point was pop music on AM radio because that's all there was on radio) and dancing in my room behind closed doors
- playing in the dirt/making gardens/being outside
- making useful things- it wasn't enough to create art, it had to have some utility (a paperweight, a scarf...)
- learning of all kinds, I used to read the encyclopedia just to learn about /everything/. There was also an absence of other books in the house so it was either that or nothing. I was intensely curious. (to this day, I have a strong bias towards non fiction)


My 10 year old self was always in motion, was always called a twitch and yelled at for not being able to sit still.

My 10 year old self hated:
- doing housework
- being made to observe rules/norms that made no sense
- being told that as a girl I was not able or allowed to do something, or conversely being made to do things because I was the girl (like make my brother's plate for him because girls serve).


So on both of those lists, nothing about my essence has changed, although the outward manifestations have.

[JaneV2.0]

I read that thing about revisiting one's younger self years ago, and it rang true for me.

I liked reading, nature, fashion, shopping, and animals. Nothing much has changed there.

I'm with herbgeek in that I never wanted to be someone's servant, and chafed at the "girls can't do that" rules.

[Simplemind]

Catherine I totally get what you are saying about painting because I can't do one just to do one. I started doing watercolors when my mom went into hospice back in 2012. We both used to take classes in oil and acrylics back in the day. I wanted to try watercolor because it is hard (for me) and requires constructing things backwards and it took my mind off my moms suffering, at least for an hour or two. I quickly discovered I wasn't interested in painting for the wall and started painting for cards. You can paint for the wall and make a card but you can do many cards that you wouldn't necessarily do for a wall. I started painting cards for my clients after spending time with them and would give as a surprise. Then I started painting for holidays/seasons/birthdays/get well... etc. There is also no pressure with a card. Keep it or toss it. I have had people ask for a larger print for the wall and will gladly make it if they ask. Never would have/could have done that as easily with oils.