I am indebted to Nassrin Haghighat who inspired this conversation.
There's never a worse time or a better time
to share yourself. There's never a worse place or a better
place to share yourself. It's always now
(what better time is there?); it's always here (what
better place is there?), and you're already yourself. If it's a
good time to share yourself, then share yourself. If it's
a bad time to share yourself, then it's a really a good
time to practice sharing yourself in bad times, so share
yourself. When you've mastered sharing yourself in bad
times, then the bad times are good times. Even the bad
times are good for sharing yourself (as Brian Poole may have said).
You may not get anything in return for sharing yourself. There's no
guarantee you will. And you may. But you don't need anything in return
to validate or to reward sharing yourself. Sharing yourself is its own
validation and its own reward. If you have it that it requires getting
something in return to validate or to reward sharing yourself, then
sharing yourself that way is arguably
inauthenticity
ie it's not what it appears to be - it's more likely to be closer akin
to manipulation than it is to sharing.
Share yourself regardless of whether you
anticipate
you'll get anything in return, or not. That's not to be taken as
encouragement nor as a motivational directive but rather
as a clarification: it's just
what's so
about what it takes to really share yourself ie what it
takes to make available who you really are. Once you start
manipulating the environment to make it conducive to sharing yourself,
once you start bargaining with circumstance to make it
easier to be who you really are (or worse, to profit from
being who you really are), something is imposed which effectively
obfuscates who you really are.
Listen: this doesn't
eschew
authentic occasions for manipulating the environment and bargaining
with circumstance. Nor does it suggest
transformation
requires renouncing profit, not profiting at all, or retiring to a
monastery
and giving up all your worldly possessions. Rather, it points to the
"Go!" switch for sharing yourself as totally distinct
from environment, circumstance, and profit.
Werner
Erhard
says
"If you don't take it out
into the world, you didn't get it in the first place.".
Transformation
is only useful when it's taken out into the world. In life you can be
who you really are, and you can profit - both. But if you're being who
you really are in order to profit, something is
blurred which effectively stops the authentic expression
of who you really are. You can't get anywhere with one foot on the gas
and the other foot on the brake at the same time.
Do it for nothing. Share yourself in order to share
yourself ... for no other reason. If you must
have a reason for sharing yourself, try this: share yourself because
you say you'll share yourself ... for no other reason.
Sharing yourself isn't a function of feeling good ie
whenever you feel good, that's a good time to share yourself -
otherwise it's not. Sharing yourself isn't a function of having your
act together ie whenever you have your act together,
that's a good time to share yourself - otherwise it's not. Really
sharing yourself is an act of intention - anytime, under any
circumstances. As a matter of fact, there's really no such
thing as sharing yourself unless it's done intentionally,
unless it's an act of intention.
Share yourself with anyone and everyone. Share yourself with those you
consider to be enlightened (which, by the way, is called
preaching to the choir) and equally with those you
consider to be unenlightened. See if you're thrown
to share yourself less readily with those you consider to be
unenlightened. See if you can distinguish your judgement in the matter
(which, by the way, is really a form of prejudice). What, for
example, does your judging
machinery
tell you about those it considers to be unenlightened? Notice whether
you have it that your judging
machinery
is accurate in its assessment, or not.
Share yourself regardless of whether you get love back or not. See if
you can distinguish whether or not you only share yourself when you
know you'll get love back. See if you can distinguish whether or not if
you've determined in advance you won't get love back, then you'll back
off from sharing yourself.
Share yourself as an act of intention in order to share yourself as
an act of intention. For no other reason. For no other validation.
For no other reward. Do it for nothing.