How do we head toward full flourishing?
It was over half a lifetime ago that I discovered the personal development movement. I didn’t have a clue about the size and extent when I first bumped into it. I just saw this tiny thing I’d never noticed.
I also didn’t have a clue that it could be hard to develop fully, to get past inner blocks, to undo inner glitches. My sense: it would be quick and easy.
Over time I found what felt like a never-ending number of ways of looking at and changing our inner worlds. Talk therapies. Movement therapies. Art and dance therapies. Body work. Breath work. Coaching. AA. Deep tissue massage. Self help. Groups of all kinds. Masterminds.
Quite an exploration.
But then, I’m an explorer in other areas as well - like in what is going on in the world!!
Back to the inner exploration.
One unexpected finding was that, despite years of exploration, I couldn’t find a model of development, or a process, that felt like enough to me. Something was always missing. Lots of emphasis on feelings. Usually nothing or almost nothing on thought. Lots of emphasis on changing our limiting beliefs. Usually nothing beyond that, for instance on perceiving accurately when living in a world of false narratives.
In other words, essential aspects to living well - not just being happy or abundant or authentic - were missing.
I was dragged to developing my solution. It wasn’t quick.
It included contacting a number of people with models of development that felt pretty good, but not full enough. Very significant areas of life - as mentioned above - were missing.
Not one person I contacted was interested in the additions I proposed.
This is likely a reason that the personal development movement - in this time of ever increasing censorship - is generally untouched. They don’t go into the censored areas: truth, reality, good thinking.
On my side, I was frustrated.
In the end, I gave up the quest to find someone to take my ideas and incorporate them, and came to a bigger one.
If you can’t find a model that work, if no one wants to add what you see is missing, the solution is obvious. Make you own model of personal development!!!
So that’s what I did.
Full flourishing.
Then I came to a realization: even that isn’t enough. What good is a model of development without a strategy for getting there?
What’s my own strategy, I asked. How was I doing my own developing?
ACE. A.C.E. Awareness, caring, engagement. I was aware of something that didn’t feel right. I cared. And I engaged in looking for and trying out ways of changing that - many different ways. Over and over with different awarenesses.
My general understanding. The drive to flourish is as natural as hunger for food. That drive fuels the whole personal growth movement,
Still, most of us are not flourishing.
Do I have the answer? I don’t see just one answer.
I see it matters to check where do things feel right, and where don’t they.
I know that for some people they know something is missing in the a religious/spiritual area of life.
For others what’s missing is a strong calling in any directions.
Still other people just feel stuck. They need a hand to start taking small steps in a direction that feels right, and then again moving further.
There isn’t just one answer.
But . . . if you’re interested in full flourishing and haven’t found a path that works adequately for you, here’s an invitation. Take a look at Full Flourishing:
https://FullFlourishing.com
After developing my model, I recognized there was a further frontier: implementing my ideas, moving from theory to practice.
So over the past couple of years, I’ve set up a couple of small masterminds. One with a focus on personal change. The other with a focus on dealing with what’s going on in the larger world. Each mastermind is one hour a week.
If either of the masterminds interests you, you can send a message to elsaiselsa@substack.com.
There’s also a video. It starts with a powerful story from my father and includes the 6 areas I see as essential for full flourishing.
As always, all the best to all of us,
Elsa
Posted Aug 27, 2022