The Vast Unknown: The Self

"...a deeper solution:  the reclamation of each person's calm, present, vastly resourceful true nature.  As the poet David Whyte wrote, "What you can plan is too small for you to live.  What you can live wholeheartedly will make enough plans..."   -- Martha Beck


Our true nature, that inner Self, is the vast unknown for each of us.  Growing up, we quickly learned to look to the outside for guidance on how to live our lives.  We pattern our lives through society's models of parental love, romantic love, work, productivity, religion, tradition -- without really being aware of this vast unknown, the Self.  The pull to fit in and to notice what others are doing are so strong.  There are so many temptations in what we hear and see, and so we forget to pause and check in with our internal musings.  There is a true Self that lives "inside," which contains our dreams, desires, aspirations, passion -- that only we can know.  Sometimes we tell others, "You don't even know me."  But we tend to ask for validation from them, and with all our hearts, we believe in the truth that "society" teaches.  But the truth about yourself has nothing to do with this world.  It has all to do with only you and your true nature.  Listen to that inner voice.  Pay attention.  Give life to it.  Dare to live the life according to you, not according to the love and acceptance of others -- not according to society's model of love and success.