“If we want to repress something, we have to dim the light of consciousness… relative to that aspect of ourselves. And when we do this, our experience of life becomes a little duller each time.”
-E. Wilkins
In the past week alone, I’ve spoken to multiple people that I would call geniuses.
One, an MIT geneticist, told me, “I started writing a book… I even had an offer for a book deal… but then I realized… I’d rather just tell people what I know and if they want to use it, great, and if not, that’s fine too.”
He’s worked with thousands of cancer patients and participated in medical research for 45 years. He told me, “I know the four things everyone should do to avoid cancer and chronic disease.”
I told him, “you need to write the book.”
I didn’t tell him to write it because potentially thousands or millions of lives could benefit (which is the most amazing side effect of writing the book, yes). I told him because he didn’t realize the problems that come with NOT writing the book.
“Write it,” I told him, “or you’ll start to feel uncomfortable, and you’ll think it’s other people or other things, but really it’s that you need to give birth to the book.”
He smiled. He understood. He told me he would go back to writing.
This is my position when it comes to anyone that truly has something to express, whether it be art to make or wisdom to teach.
Think of it this way: nothing in nature purely takes without transforming or giving back. A plant that absorbs nutrients from the soil eventually blossoms and blooms. The Earth receives the radiance of the sun and produces activity of all kinds. A baby that’s fed grows in height rapidly until he/she/they becomes a child.
The mind, too, works this way.
Give it nourishment and inspiration, then refuse to express what it’s gathered, and nothing will feel right; that’s the nudge that human nature itself gives us to take a step forward, and speak.
If you tell no one what only you can share, the implosion begins… little by little, the breaking down of things… until you learn to say it.
For some, it’s through music, dance, or the art of cooking, that expression is best found. For others, it’s wisdom itself… it’s the spoken or written word… and you will doubt it a million times before you share it or write it, but once you do, you’ll be yourself again.
If you tell no one, dissatisfaction can arise as a state of being, tricking you to think no one, or nothing, is enough.
Pick up the pen, dance to the music, or play the violin… and if you feel much better after, then you’ll know what I’m telling you is true; you’re one of the ones that have a calling to express, not later, but now. So go do your work. Be fearless and move quickly.
Thanks in advance for whatever you’re about to share.
I’ll be your first fan once you do.
