What’s up y’all. Welcome to da city and culture podcast. It’s ya girl Abba Parks.
I hope y’all have been keeping well and warm. It’s been very chilly here in my ends the last couple days and I don’t know about y’all but I’m excited to use the weather as an excuse to stay indoors as much as possible this winter. I’ve compiled a decent reading list and curated some new playlists to keep me engaged and focused this coming winter season but I know firsthand how hard it can be for many of us to maintain balance as we move into a new year.
So today I want to talk to y’all about the power of authentic expression.
Expression is a beautiful tool we have to engage with ourselves, community, and the world. It’s a way for us to gain insight, establish perception, and develop personal philosophy; which in turn determines if our expression is stemming from authenticity or appropriation.
When we are expressing ourselves authentically our experiences become much more meaningful as we are engaging with our community, cities, and the world with confidence and courage. It takes a lot of strength to be those things today and sometimes it can be hard when we are existing in a society where being authentic can be seen as a threat to others who do not understand how to cultivate this internal power for themselves.
I’m a bold woman. I have a very unique aesthetic and I like to live my life in a certain way that makes sense to me but if I have learned one thing about our current state of global culture its that there is not a lot of respect for this kind of individuality. People will get offended because they don’t understand that individuality allows us to see the world through an objective lens which also allows us to move through the illusions with greater ease without attaching ourselves to them.
When others are working from this lower vibrational frequency they will attempt to take parts of you for themselves with the hopes of gaining the cultural credentials you have earned through your experiences.
People say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery but I think that’s bullshit. Being copied, imitated, and replicated for personal or mass consumption is why we have a lot of influential people leaving metropolitan society and trading in that city life for something more holistic and nurturing. Now not all of us have the desire or ability to pack up and leave, some of us are rooted in these cities because of family or otherwise.
So If you’re like me and you’re looking for ways to express yourself authentically or protect your authenticity while still maintaining a city life, listen closely and I’ll dive into nitty gritty details of my experience with this aspect of societal life.
A lot of shifts are taking place collectively and individually. When I look at how people are engaging with each other locally and globally I feel inspired to share more of who I am and to celebrate those who are bold enough to do the same with the hopes of amplifying this change on a greater scale.
I can also see how there is still a lot of fear based projections holding on for dear life. But before I dive into the meat and potatoes of today’s discussion let’s define the difference between authenticity and appropriation, and how these aspects of expression affect one’s personal journey in life.
If appropriation is the action of taking something that doesn’t not belong to you and using if for your own benefit without the permission from the originating individual or culture then authentic expression can be defined as acting and behaving with the conviction from one’s own internal power.
Authenticity is the ultimate form of intellectual and cultural protection. When we are authentically expressing ourselves we allow the ego to rest, there is no need to compete with one another, and we allow ourselves to be open to collaboration with others. We celebrate differences in ideas and welcome in new perspectives.
Our psyches consist of three collaborative energies: the Feminine, the Masculine, and the Ego.
Feminine energy serves the purpose of creation. It is intuitive, emotional, nurturing, and generous. Masculine energy serves the purpose of protection therefore It is logical, assertive, strong, and focused. These two energies allow us to express ourselves throughout our experiences in life. The ego is what I like to consider our internal moderator, when activated the ego has the ability to engage these energies within us directly to bring forth a certain outcome. The result of this outcome is determined by wether the ego is activated with positivity: love and light or by negativity: hate and darkness.
When our feminine and masculine energies are balanced the ego allows authentic expression to flow abundantly and over time will create energetic patterns that shape our character. Again the ego can rest and there is no need to take control of our psyche for we are expressing ourselves in accordance with who we truly we are but when we are out of alignment the ego becomes activated and begins the work of determining how to bring our mind, body, and soul complex back into harmony.
But what the ego doesn’t know or cannot understand is that these energies are self aligning. When given the space to slow our minds down, calm our nervous systems, and nourish our bodies we are activating the ego with positivity; which allows us to reconcile our experiences, do the shadow work and continue striving to achieve total harmony. This mindset helps to refocus the individual by bringing the shadow into loving awareness knowing the individual will not be overcome by what is reflected back to them.
When we are not given this space our minds begin overthinking, our nervous systems becomes anxious, our bodies get agitated, and the ego becomes activated by negativity.
In this modality the ego will manipulate the individual’s experience in an attempt to create what it believes is harmony, it ends up adding more and more layers of illusion that further separates the individual from their truth.
This makes it more difficult to express one’s self authentically as the ego is afraid and sees the shadow as separate from the individual and will attempt to shroud its existence even more. This state of imbalance is detrimental to one’s self awareness as the negative ego will make any justification for what it is creating in hopes that balance will be established. This process leads us into a downward spiral of continuous questioning.
In the previous episode I discuss how we can use continuous questioning to lead us back into our own consciousness and begin doing the work of peeling back the layers of illusion to find authenticity; ultimately harmonizing our mind, body, and spirit complex. No matter how far we walk down the wrong path, there is always a way back to you. The ego tells us we must stay but it is the heart that shows us the way home.
So you’re probably wondering how do we begin doing this work, Abba.
Well I don’t have all the answers but I know It all starts with gaining the courage to become yourself despite the experiences that you’ve had and the mentality of the people around you. When we witness ourselves we gain the opportunity to know who we are and the greatness we hold; it’s how we can determine the types of experiences we want to have and that leads us into a higher plane of existence.
Being honest with yourself is the key to releasing stagnant energy which allows you to begin the work of witnessing yourself. This process begins by breaking down the barriers your ego has built around you which gives us the strength needed to let go of old narratives that no longer serve us individually and collectively. We can then begin the work of developing loving landscapes within our psyche that is necessary for us to cultivate our own internal power so we may be able to feed our souls the love it desires.
When we look at our own nature, how we express ourselves, perceive the world, and engage with others, we can learn a lot about our own internal power and how that aligns with the changing of seasons.
As we close out this calendar year a lot of shifts are taking place collectively and individually. Winter solstice is the longest night of the year. Traditionally this day is spent with family, friends, and community as we use the darkness to usher in a period of deep reflection. We celebrate the fullness of our journey and close out the harvest season knowing we have secured our future for the coming spring in the rich fertile grounds of our psyche. It is a beautiful time to embrace darkness.
I observe the world around me in awe as I can see how we are profoundly moving into a new paradigm of existence; one that bases courage, hope, and empathy as its fundamental building blocks.
I also notice the fear some have of this change and how that fear is desperately attempting to uphold outdated systems of existence. If we are not aware of the fears we project we recreate narratives that uphold harm, not only to ourselves but to our community as well. We must have the strength to let go and allow healing to take place.
As scary as it may be authentic expression is what will give us the strength to transition into this new dimension of existence with greater ease. This is how we collaborate with the universal laws that govern everything. Sometimes we need to go into darkness to find the light.
I believe darkness is not the absence of light but the fullness of light, for you cannot have one without the other.
So as we move into a new season, as we slow down and take time to witness our own development, I’m curious as to how y’all are using darkness to illuminate your psyche and amplify authentic expression.
Let me in on your thoughts and how you are witnessing changes in your individuality, community, and the world or don’t. Do you and I’ll catch you here next week. Same time, same place, until then take it easy and be kind to yourself. Much love.
