The Self Mastery Project is a three-month program currently in session. The three-month program has consisted of a one weekend intensive with Kristoffer Carter in Kansas City, a webinar, a weekend intensive with August Gold in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and three individual coaching sessions with Dr. Chris Michaels.
The program has been stuffed with insight and self-discovery.
This weekend during The Self Mastery Project webinar we talked about the power of beliefs. The funny thing is most of our beliefs have never been closely examined or scrutinized. Too many of our beliefs are rooted in fear, opinion or someone else’s experience.
I often think of the beliefs surrounding creative people. Society tells us all artists are starving. We are taught that if you can paint then you probably can’t do math. Our current culture tells us some writers start their morning with Scotch. Mainly we are informed that the passion of creative people is so intense that their life can never be stable.
They are all doomed to be troubled geniuses.
These beliefs have been polluting our creative culture for years. There are heaps of articles on the Internet about all the musicians that have died at twenty-seven: Amy Winehouse, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin – The list continues. But this dreadful inventory isn’t limited to musicians. There is the great French poet, Rene Vivian that died at thirty-two. According to my research, Vivian consumed by inspiration and lovers drank/starved herself to death. In her short life she published more than thirty volumes of prose under various names. Then there is the American photographer Francesca Woodman. Her work continues to be the subject of much critical acclaim, years after she committed suicide at the age of twenty-two.
The truth is: Not all imaginative minds are subject to early deaths, alcoholism, and fickleness. There are writers like Anne Lamott that have been sober for years. Lamott’s work speaks to audiences across the globe. Many of her books talk about her atheist upbringing and how she thought intelligent people couldn’t believe in God. There are also writers like Elizabeth Gilbert (The author of Eat, Pray, Love) who have researched how to live as a healthy creative.
Some of our beliefs may be based on truth, but many have been unconsciously accepted without consideration.
Don’t discount your intuition. But challenge your beliefs. You may be surprised with what you discover about yourself and the world around you.
Image of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey. Photo courtesy of Asheer Akram.