Manifestos Galore
I'm a big Brene Brown fan, and I've downloaded some of her manifestos from her website. (Grab your copies here!) Then, one of my mentors offered a course in writing manifestos. I patted myself on the back for resisting enrolling in yet another online class, but I caught the bug when several friends and colleagues jumped on the manifesto bandwagon, and I started writing. Last year. Yep, you read that correctly. I started writing last year, and now I'm done polishing my creations.
Here's the world premiere of my Self-Help Junkies' Liberation Manifesto.
I pursue learning for my own curiosity, not out of a desperate need to fix myself. * I care more about how I feel than how I appear to others. * I regularly visit my inner world without apology, explanation, or justification. * I no longer apologize, to myself or others, for my woo, flakiness, or dialing into energetic and emotional fields. * I own my flaws, no longer needing to hide them or contort to a new position to mask them. I hold them gently, with care and intention to heal and move forward. * I let myself be giddy about things that others around me might find silly. * I treasure both internal and external connection, and I’m no longer a slave to needing everyone to like and approve of me. * I stay with myself and others whom I care about to attend to any gap between my intention and my impact. * If I’m willing to feel any emotion, I can create any life I can imagine. * When I manage my own fear, it moves to the back of the bus. My mind, my most powerful tool, deserves a loving hand to steer it. * I’m alert for using binary framing as I approach to my world, and I liberally apply the use of “and.” Examples: structure and spontaneity, self-care and indulgence, contentment and seeking growth. * I know that there are exquisitely good reasons for me to take detours, get caught up on the gerbil wheel in my mind, and fall short of living up to my potential and living my best life (again!). My mantra is “Of course!” Of course, I’m here again. Of course, I wanted to create something better than this. Of course, my inner critic is having a field day. It’s okay. No need to bash myself. The balm of self-compassion heals. * I no longer banish parts of myself that I find unpalatable. The part of me that is afraid of international travel, the part of me that regrets scheduling social events, the part of me who undermines my own progress, the part of me that self-sabotages. All are welcome. All are within my own loving embrace. I am capable of managing all of these parts of myself with inclusion, acceptance, and intention. I’m not at the mercy of these parts of myself. Except when I am, and then I rest and get up again. u I’m aware of the seasons of my life, my body, my moods, my obligations. Sometimes it’s best to nap and to lounge. Sometimes it’s best to ride my growth edge. Sometimes it’s best to crawl back to therapy. Sometimes it’s best to ask for help. Sometimes it’s best to stand triumphantly in my own power and creativity.
I've also written My Brilliant Intentional Career Manifesto, which you can find on my career page.
Here's what I learned about manifestos from my yearlong adventure with them (okay, I exaggerate, I let my writings go dormant for many, many months, so it didn't take THAT long):
The Unibomber no longer owns the term "manifesto." Terrorists don't get to usurp words that still serve us all. I'm done with ceding power to people I don't agree with politically.
My sense of intimidation in claiming what matters deeply to me about a topic comes more from my internal self-talk (which I can attend to and redirect) than from external forces (which are much harder to redirect!).
Everything's a work in progress. My son's high school art teacher used to quote Leonardo Da Vinci: Art is never finished, only abandoned. Sometimes, it's just about moving on rather than polishing to perfection.
May you abandon your own creations for the sake of them getting out into the world for others to witness.