Wednesday, January 7, 2015

My Energy Profile: A Self-Portrait

A few days ago, I shared an overview of Carol Tuttle's Energy Profiling system. Now, time for the grand reveal of my Energy Profile:

I am a Type 1 light-hearted, animated man!

Ta-da! My Energy Profile is 1-2-4-3, exactly like my mother. I lead with a Type 1 Energy that is strongly supported by a soft, subtle Type 2 Energy, closely followed by a reflective, bold Type 4 Energy. And last is my swift, sassy Type 3 Energy (obviously). Each supporting energy has served me well, and I see that the qualities I express in those Energies still maintain a flair of my spontaneous Type 1 Energy.

Let me share some ways I express this energy combination in my life.

To be honest, I feel a bit funny writing this. It feels like it's a stream of me, me, me. But my hopes would be that you can understand how the Energy Profiling system can play into, bring insight to, and be evidenced in someone's life. Also, perhaps, you may connect with my tendencies and notice those qualities in your own expression of those Energies, or in the expression of other people.

My Art

In describing her 2014 single "Into the Blue," Kylie Minogue (Type 1) summed up the track in what is probably the best description, I would say, of a Type 1-2's tendencies and outlook on life, stating, "It's a little bit melancholy, but it's ultimately euphoric." Looking over my own art, which -- true to my random Type 1 nature -- covers many different mediums of expression, I feel I can say the same about every piece I have ever created. In fact, much of the art that personally appeals to me can receive that same description, hence my strong draw to breezy pop and bubblegum pop. I've felt my everyday internal world as a Type 1-2 movement could be demonstrated in the 2:51-3:33 segment of Owl City's "Cave In:"

Physical Features

Monday, January 5, 2015

Carol Tuttle's Energy Profiling System

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

This post is fun! We all are familiar with personality types. Well, a little over a year ago, I discovered Carol Tuttle's Energy Profiling system, a movement based assessment that takes into account behavioral tendencies, body language, physical features, feeling processes, and thought processes.

My purpose in sharing this is to start off the new year with something that may help us get to know ourselves a little better. Discovering a more "true" you may be just around the corner! Plus, it plays some into a few of my future posts, since it's taken an interesting role in my life. Most importantly for future posts, pay attention to doodles.

Energy Profiling presents the idea that everyone was born with their energy profile and that it never changes. We all were given our gifts with our energy type and will be happiest and will thrive most, with those around us, as we live true to that nature and honor others as they live true to their nature. Of course, though there are only four energy types, everyone is unique in their individual expression of their type. Also, everyone possesses all four types within them, though we all lead with one of the types. Further, the energy types express in all forms of nature, including environments and animals, and in many different aspects of life, such as music and what clothes, hairstyles, and makeup work best for someone (Carol and her team have organized an entire program for this entitled Dressing Your Truth, or DYT; its introductory book is Discover Your Personal Beauty Profile).

Another major aspect Energy Profiling accomplishes is that it disbands most behavioral qualities of gender, validating and honoring personal gifts that are often squelched by societal expectations. While society may impose a standard of what one must be in order to represent a prime example of their gender, Energy Profiling grants opportunity for everyone to live true to what is most natural to them. Many members of each sex possess qualities that society may try to discount, qualities and gifts we often miss in our world, all for the sake of shaming. Let us build, rather than tear down.

Needless to say, there is a lot to be said about energy profiling, but I'll try to be brief. You can look further into it if it peaks your interest. More can be known about it in Carol's book It's Just My Nature! and through her free ENERGY PROFILING online course.

Now, to qualify yourself as a type, there is no test, as with many personality inquiries, which results can be tainted and, therefore, not necessarily a most accurate assessment of who you truly are at your core. When you learn of the types, you intuitively will know what type you dominantly express (and what you express as your secondary, tertiary, and so forth). They are named just by numbers: Type 1, Type 2, etc.

Monday, December 15, 2014

My Artist's Prayer

A task in week four of The Artist's Way is to write our own Artist's Prayer, after being given an example. Here's mine:

O Father in Heaven,
Thou art the Great and Supreme Creator.
All good that is and will be created comes from thy
Loving and Wise hands.
I pray that thou wilt impart thy Power in me and through me.
I will do thy bidding as thou wilt have me do.
I will share thy words, for thy words are true and powerful.
I will give life to the stories thou sendest me --
To give the characters breath of life to be real,
To be Children of thee, no matter how troubled --
That thy purposes may be fulfilled
And thy messages will be given to the world.
I am at thy disposal.
I am thine.
I give myself to thee,
For no one has greater mind of my potential than thee,
My Creator.
Thou hast created me to be here at this time with these gifts.
I give myself to thy purposes
And ask for thy blessing, direction, and guidance
That I may heal and find wholeness --
That I might heal others
And teach and deliver thy messages to them
In person and in Creativity.
I give myself to thee and thy Wisdom
And pray that my work and efforts
Will be worthy of thee
And consecrate worship to thee.

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Overcoming Fallacy #2: "Love MUST Be Painful;" Why We Use Blocks

Going into this post, I fear becoming one of those nauseatingly sappy guys I want to kick in the balls just to see if they have any (though I'm sure several of you already consider me there and probably not just from this blog).

To recap my last post: just short of two years ago, I realized my belief that no one I would want would want me back was a complete lie and fallacy, particularly pertaining to love interest. A few months later, I came across the book Remembering Wholeness by Carol Tuttle, which rightfully taught that our beliefs create our experiences.

In approximately my eighth week of The Artist's Way, intensely in full-swing of the course, I uncovered yet another love block, which seemed to play off of, and go hand-in-hand with, my previous one. I believed love MUST be painful or else it isn't real, making me often feel that love is a joke. I was frightened to pursue love. Still, I wanted it, like anyone else. I believed this about love, but didn't want to.

Part of this came forward from watching the television show Married at First Sight and dreaming of the day when I, too, could argue in a kitchen with my beloved and just be sick at the very thought and presence of them. It felt energizing. It felt alive. It felt...less than what I thought I should aspire to, even if it made me feel a part of everyone else. I mentally played with and analyzed my perceived concepts of married life. As things occurred to me, I explored them in my stream-of-conscious morning pages:
(August 31, 2014) "I don't like to talk about hard topics with [Spock]...It doesn't always feel safe but almost feels more painful. I think [Spock] loves painfully. [Spock] makes love hurt. It hurts to love. I think I've picked that up from [Spock]...without realizing it. It's like being afraid to love always because of the anticipation of the hurt that will come. Is that what life has taught [Spock]? If you love you will find hurt? What a fallacy and bad lesson. To love is to find joy and celebration. It must be this way...It's not just romantic love. It's all love. But I think I've mostly translated it into romantic love and family -- that if I love them, it means to hurt and be hurt by [them]...How do you work through...conception passed on to you?...I feel like this is huge!...Other forms of familial and romantic love I've seen are always gripey and short-tempered -- another form of saying love is pain. Love is pain! No, it's not...Pain is a warning. Not a result or plea bargain. Pain should not be the result of love, unless there is something to be fixed. Sometimes that [which needs] fixing, I think, is simply our attitude. But whatever it is, it must be addressed. We have felt the warning. We should listen to it and make appropriate changes. Do not live in pain! Life is not meant to live painfully.

Monday, December 1, 2014

Overcoming Fallacy #1: "No One I'd Want Would Want Me;" Our Beliefs Create Our Experiences

Do you have those moments when you realize deep beliefs you held on to were utter lies? It shakes your world, as your reality is called into question. Why shouldn't it, when it is our beliefs that create our perception on reality? Change your beliefs and you change your reality.

Still, that moment of recognition comes with its sting, as the old you dies and a new you is born.

An excerpt from Remembering Wholeness by Carol Tuttle
Since my tween years, I believed that no one whom I would want would want me back. This was mostly romantically-speaking, but overran to other relationships. I had actually been verbally telling myself this for years, knowing how wrong it possibly was but mostly believing it all the same.

As a result, I never pursued anyone or stuck my neck into the dating world, though I didn't really have to when those I desired to go after (and then some -- well, many others -- actually, it was more like a constant stream...) were already attempting to pursue me. I didn't realize it at the time, but I see that I did things (even odd things) to ruin and mess up the situations that were often date-y -ish, but not. (You modern daters know what gray area I'm talking about; where you spend so much time together and know so much about each other you might as well have been "dating"). I ruined them because I had a deep belief it would be "too good to be true" or that I didn't deserve to be a part of that -- self-sabotaging fears. So, I never reached out to seriously or formally date anyone, but when people tried or proposed that with me, I ran for the hills.

Nearly two years ago, I was living in my parents' home immediately after graduating college and after having endured an incredibly emotional, busy year (which included the deaths of both my elderly grandmothers and the suicide of my dearest friend; I was in rough, delicate shape -- perfect for awakenings).