Remember Yourself

Since Abi completed her 30-day challenge of breaking misconceptions, I want to start this post by saying: Congratulations! You have done well!

Misconceptions... we often cling to them. We want the world to be as we think it is. Often, breaking a misconception is like breaking a piece of yourself. You hold something to be true, and then it dissolves before your eyes. Like an effervescent tablet in water. Those are awesome.

This personal challenge is one we should all be so brave as to tackle. But few will complete such a task.
And now, Abi is searching for something new to challenge herself with... well I have a suggestion. But I'm not going to suggest it just to Abi. I'm going to suggest it to all of us.

So here is my challenge for Abi and myself, and everyone who reads here:

Remember yourself.


For 30 days (Let's be reasonable and start on September 1st and end on September 30th, actually) take a bit of time every single day... and write about yourself.
Write about the past.
Write about your childhood.
REMEMBER YOURSELF.
Remember who you were then. What you did then. Silly, seemingly inane details, embarrassing stories you would not share with anyone, secrets you held dear as a child, games you played alone.

Remember people you knew, relatives you've forgotten. Follow those pathways and recall their names. Recall their faces. Describe how you interacted with them. Remember people you have lost to time.

Recall the things you don't want to recall. Remember the things that scared you. The things that alienated you. Admit the things you did that you would never admit to yourself or anyone else.

REMEMBER YOURSELF.

Recall happy times. Recall moments that made you smile. List every vacation you went on and what you did there. Anything at all that you can recall.

Write as much or as little as comes to you daily. But try, every single day, to remember SOMETHING new.
And record it.

REMEMBER YOURSELF

Remember lies you told. Remember why you told them. And now, tell the truth you never told.

Remember secrets you kept. Remember why you kept them. And now, share them.

Remember stories you experienced. Remember why you loved or hated them. And now, revisit them.

REMEMBER YOURSELF.

That is my challenge.

A great philosopher and student of the human experience,George Ivanovich Gurdjieff , once had 30 or so applicants who wished to be his disciples. He took them all to a building and gathered them around and told them that for the next 30 days they would live there and not leave. And during that 30 days, they would do only one thing, every single day, all day. They would remember themselves. They would talk, recall, think, recount and record. They would do nothing else.

Only 3 remained for the entire 30 days. They went on to become Jung's best students. The rest fled. Some said they fled because they feared that they were going to go insane.


I know that's not very encouraging. The reason is ... we lie to ourselves constantly. We forget what we want to forget. We craft and shape ourselves. And in doing that, we let go of some of the material that makes us up. Trying to find all the pieces you've stored away is a terrifying task.

Of course, I'm not asking you to spend 30 days doing only that. I'm asking you recall a bit, however, every day in that time.

Most people will never take this challenge.


And many people... wouldn't be able to handle it.

I'm not even sure I can. Let's find out.

Arsh