Creating daily
Last night I stayed up late with a glass of whiskey and a blank 8x11 piece of paper and decided to get to the bottom of why I even have a website, or social media, or call myself a writer. I did what I could to pray, to listen, and then I just mind-mapped things. The scrawls got scribblier and scrawlier and ended with one box that says CREATE DAILY. It became an invitation to get into a rhythm of publishing, for five important reasons. Here's what they are: 1) This space is for my own learning and processing. It's a chance to actually write and create, without being drawn into mind-reading. (That's something I do in regular life: I imagine what other people are thinking. Then I shape-shift accordingly to suit their needs and expectations. Then I forget who I'm supposed to be.) So this is about the potential for authenticity, for becoming clear on my own needs, perspectives, passions. 2) But this is also for my wise friends. They might be my closest audience. I get the chance to learn and benefit from them, and benefit them in the process. And me, I need a rhythm for this. Publishing doesn't come fluidly, as a “natural social outpouring.” It instead needs be a “planned personal gift.” So this is a gift space. To show up alongside wise friends and learn together. 3) It’s a chance to live into my own vision. I have a statement on my wall that says (lots of things, but the key part of it says): "I will use my empathetic leadership and creative expressions to draw out our collective genius" As you can clearly read, I'm not here here for:
emotionless following
anxious silence
individual showing off.
I'm also not here for:
empathetic thinking alone (that doesn't connect with people)
creative ideas alone (that never get expressed)
collective dumbness.
4) I'm also curious: What will people discover that helps them come alive? It’s not just about me and my ideas: it’s about you, dear reader, discovering your unique possibilities. I hope my learning and sharing makes it safe for you to do the same: share real stories. From spirituality, from parenting, from work, from life. 5) This is a push against presenting an image. It's a challenge for me to reimagine a web presence. It's not for promotion, not for brand-building, but for love. For authenticity. For reals. I want to use it. To authentify the .com. Our job is but to live a life that is authentic, wise, visionary, and alive-ness making. This is for that.
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So with those five reasons, I'm going to try a rhythm this year of creating daily, on here, then curating weekly emails that get sent to my exiting subscriber list. I killed my "Kevan Gilbert" public Facebook page, removed everything else from this site, and have started from scratch, to see if this can be something different.