Back to the Beginning

This blog was begun as an extension of an unpublished book I wrote in the '70's, which was titled: You in the Process of Becoming; A Guide to the Self. As mentioned in my last blog, this time was a period of metamorphosis for me. This metamorphosis was begun in the early '60's, which was a time of personal upheaval for many people, and not just younger people. The culmination of the metamorphosis was the book, in the mid '70's.

Probably the most important factors in that upheaval were President Nixon and the Vietnam War, with the resultant "Peace Movement," as well as the arrival in public consciousness of Dr. Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement. All of which birthed the feminist, "Liberation Movement." "Consciousness raising" was the order of the day. The effect of all this on me was an all-consuming effort on my part to understand what made average, ordinary people "crazy." Those were extraordinary times in this country.

We are in extraordinary times again, yet what I see and read is about people's involvement with YouTube, Facebook, MySpace and, (God Help Us!) "Twittering!" Invitations galore to become a "Friend" of someone you don't know. Interacting, without actually interacting, is the preferred way of relating of the day for a vast number of people.

The number one person the vast majority of individuals do not know, however, is themselves. This blog is the discussion of our responsibility to and for ourselves. In addition to asking you to discover what you believe, I also ask: Who are you? What are "a few of your favorite things"? I doubt that very many individuals, who might answer these questions, could give more than a superficial response.

Now, I know, in actuality, "Who are you?" is a very heavy question, (to use a '60's expression). Many people have spent hours, days, or more, sitting asking the question, "Who am I?" over and over, in an effort to gain insight into their essence.

In the '60's and '70's people met in "encounter groups," and "rap sessions." Today, people sit at their computers, (or on their ever-present, multi-purposed cell phones) on "Facebook" and "MySpace", or "Twittering" their activities to people doing the same back. What more evidence is needed, to demonstrate the degree to which so many people are truly "asleep at the switch"?

I have suggested writing in a Journal of some kind, as a way of learning something about one's own process and beliefs. Today's equivalent appears to be blogging. Much of the blogging world, however, appears to contain little more than opinion pieces, with, as to be expected, (by me) little more than expressions of personal Belief Systems.

The average individual has no idea what they reveal to someone who is clear sighted. Everything you do, everything you say and how you say it, the expression you wear on your face, the clothes you wear on your body, your body language, etc., etc., tells a continuing story of who and what you are as a human being. While it may be believed that this has little to do with anything important, it is a major part of how you create your reality, on a moment to moment basis.

How can that be, you ask? While most are oblivious to all this information on a "conscious" level, your unconscious is reading and recording this information about everyone you meet, and their unconscious selves are doing the same about you. I discussed this, when I talked about what happens within the first four seconds of your coming into contact with someone new.

It has been established that, even while we are "asleep," our unconscious selves are wide awake and recording everything that is happening around us. Much of this information comes from reading what people who are involved with hypnotherapy have written about what is revealed by the unconscious while under hypnosis.

Since I was first "prescribed" the reading of a book on Self Hypnosis, by a Doctor I had consulted for a recurring "medical" problem, I have read a vast amount of material in this area, (as well as a great many others). From the first eye/(mind)-opening contact with hypnosis, what is, and has been, revealed subsequently is still mind bending.

The most important fact that has been revealed is that the human being is extraordinarily powerful and complex.

I leave this with you today; YOU are extraordinarily powerful and complex.

Shirley Gallup