EMBRACING YOUR BRIGHT SELF

Empowerment Lab: Embracing Your Bright Self – July 13, 2024

MEntity: 

Hello to each of you. We are here, now. We can begin.

Today we speak about a concept that is not a part of our teaching, but is a concept that exists. We say this is not a part of our teaching, only in the sense that we have a foundation that we would consider our teaching, and all additional elements we build upon this have come from cooperative dynamics with our students.

Because of you, our teaching expands.

The "Bright Self" exists and is present in all of you as a part of the multifaceted and multidimensional beings you are. It is a mix of Essence and Personality. It is born WITHIN the lifetime and does not come with you. It is born in a moment when someone imprints you with the brightest of themselves.

The Bright Self propagates among people in this way, born as each reveals itself in a moment with others. 

As any student may expect, there are 7 Bright Selves, but the ways Bright Selves work is quite different from many other elements of the Personality.

Of all elements we have shared, the Bright Selves are cumulative. In other words, you are rarely ONE of these. Over time, the ideal scenario would be to have collected all Bright Selves.

LAB EXPERIMENT ONE: as we describe the Bright Selves, note how many you feel you have collected, and how many you have shared with others.

THE INSPIRED CREATOR - The inspired creator is driven by moments of insight funneled into creative expression. This is a Bright Self that shows up in daydreaming, coming up with new ideas, even in mundane tasks. This Bright Self takes time to engage in creativity and sees ordinary objects and situations as opportunities for artistic expression. The impact on others is a kind of inspiration that helps others to see that they can be creative and expressive without shame or without having to wait for some vague future moment when they have time.

If you have developed this Bright Self, it was likely due to a moment when an Artisan showed you that creativity was a right, not something to earn.

THE LOVING CONNECTOR - the loving connector thrives on deep and meaningful relationships. These Bright Selves gravitate toward social interactions, feeling energized when connecting with others. They seek to bond or have moments of bonding, even if it is the stranger sitting next to them, the barista, or the person checking one out at the grocery store. This Bright Self likes to reach out, inviting, encouraging gatherings, and tends to find meaning and value in listening, offering support. They are often at the hub of social circles, bringing together small groups, new friends, or hosting entire communities. They create safe spaces for others to open up and connect.

If you have developed this Bright Self, it is likely due to a moment when a Server helped you remember your value and meaning in simply existing.

THE RESILIENT REBEL - the resilient rebel finds strength, fuel, and optimism in taking on and overcoming the challenges of life. This is the Bright Self who takes a look at the day and sees every challenge as a means of improvement, growth, and positive change. This Bright Self tends not to shy away from difficulties, but confront them directly and compassionately. They handle stress very effectively by staying organized and focused. They tend to set goals, even if loosely set, and enjoy routines. They often serve as a role model for perseverance and optimism, a reminder that one can be tired and frustrated, and still overcome challenges. 

If you have developed this Bright Self, you were likely prompted by a Warrior to "just do it," so to speak, and found a way to do just that.

THE AWAKENED WANDERER - the awakened wanderer sees the beauty and interconnectedness of everything. This is the Bright Self who pauses to reflect on life's deeper meaning, noticing patterns and connections that others may overlook. They often find wonder and joy in very simple experiences and moments, such as the surprise sound of birds, or smile of a passing stranger. These Bright Selves take time to appreciate the moment and be present. They are pulled in directions of philosophy and spiritual concepts, focusing on how a teaching can help recognize beauty and resonance and interconnectedness. Their ability to remind others to slow down, to play, to be alive helps others to appreciate their moments.

If you have developed this Bright Self, it is likely due to the influences of a Sage.

THE ACHIEVER - the achiever is a bright self who thrives on the joy and confidence that comes from personal accomplishments. This is not about competitiveness or comparisons, but about personal goals and striving to fulfill them. They tend to measure their progress, even in small tasks, but find great satisfaction in completing any list or process. They love to improve on their performances and abilities, whether in personal development, hobbies, or work. They celebrate the smallest victories and do all they can to stay motivated. They often help others to see how focus, discipline, refinement, and dedication can bring reward. Their confidence can become contagious.

For those who have developed this Bright Self, it was likely due to a King.

THE GRATEFUL HEART - the grateful heart thrives on cultivating happiness through gratitude. There is often a reason to be thankful about everything to this Bright Self. They tend to focus on the positive aspects of a situation, finding things for which to be grateful even if 99% of the experience is devastating. They often reflect on things for which to be grateful in the day, express appreciation to others, and generally acknowledges others who do anything to bring kindness to the day. They are often encouraging others to shift their thinking and speaking and feeling toward what is easily forgotten in the face of challenges.

If you have developed this Bright Self, it is likely that you have had a Priest influence a moment in your life.

THE KIND SOUL - the kind soul only wants to spread positivity through kindness and empathy. The are always looking for ways to help others, often with random acts of kindness, often subconsciously empathizing with many who cross their path. They can thrive on being volunteers, helping with causes, helping friends, strangers, and helping nurture others who may be more directly cultivating community. They tend to love small acts of kindness and will try different tactics over time to strike resonance with you. They can be quite sensitive, but see this is a strength, even if they need to be reminded.

If you have developed this Bright Self, it is likely due to a Scholar reaching into your life for a moment to help.

SPECIAL NOTES:

One: some of these may seem to be hybrids or correlate strangely with a Role. This is because these Bright Selves are referencing an element of the Role that is different from the core. For example, a Scholar loves to learn, of course, but they love to learn for a reason and that is to help others. Or a Server whose nature is to help others, but why? To connect people to people.

Two: If you are a SAGE it does not mean you have an AWAKENED WANDERER. If you are a KING, it does not mean you inherently have an ACHIEVER. The Bright Self is born through interaction with others, not born from within.

Three: if you are a PRIEST, it does not mean that you will help bring to life a GRATEFUL HEART in someone else. The Bright Self/Selves that you carry are what helps bring to life a Bright Self in others. Essence Roles are not a factor.

YOUR ASSESSMENTS: We would now invite each of you to list which of the Bright Selves you recognize in yourself.

Andreas: Inspired Creator, Loving Connector, Awakened Wanderer, Achiever, Kind Soul

Faye: All except for the grateful heart.

Andreas: But I really wish I had the other two as well.

JanetE: I have to say I recognize all of these Selves. However, I’m 70, a mother and grandmother, and I’ve completed the 5th IM. I’ve got mileage. ;-) This is not to say these Selves are a done deal. The Loving Connector and the Grateful Heart do not come easily for me. 

DianeHB: Inspired Creator, Resilient Rebel, Awakened Wanderer, Achiever, Grateful Heart, and a bit of Kind Soul. I have more of the Loving Connector these days but I wouldn't say I identify with it.

KatjaB44: Very sure: the awakened wanderer, loving connector. I also think resilient rebel and achiever and inspired creator. Not so sure about the grateful heart and the kind soul. I feel it is hard to tell because I wish I was all of that and that may cloud my perception

Maureen: The Loving Connector (more one on one), The Resilient Rebel (hard right now due to exhaustion), The Awakened Wanderer (comes and goes), The Grateful Heart (100%, easiest), The Kind Soul (this is a lovely one). I can see where many of these influences have come from in this lifetime. 

Uma: Loving Connector, Awakened Wanderer, Kind Soul. I think I have experienced flashes of all, but some more than others.

MEntity: 

CONTINUING: 

Each of your assessments tell you about moments in your life that affected you profoundly in positive ways. These moments are organic and often unnoticed, but sometimes may be noted. The goal here is not to collect all Bright Selves for development. Bright Selves are spontaneously born, not hunted. The goal here is to recognize that you have had, at least, one bright moment in this life that profoundly changed you in a way that left you with an unapologetically bright self who loves being here as you, being alive as you, and sees the world in a way that is not delusionally positive, but sees it as a part of the self. In seeing this life and your world as part of the self, there is no division between what that Bright Self does for you vs what it does for others.

Bringing your Bright Self into the conscious realm means being able to turn to this part of you that comes naturally more often and more intentionally. When the Bright Self remains in the subconscious or unconscious, the Bright Self can show up in unexpected moments that are often quite brief, but still meaningful. When the Bright Self is in the conscious realm, there is a renewed permission to allow that part of you to share the day with you, share time with you, and be with you in new ways.

It is permission to feel good about yourself and who you are as a meaningful force in this world as YOU. Not as Essence, not as some segment of a larger arc of existence, but as YOU. These Bright Selves are born in this life and die in this life. Their effects live on in all who carried them or were touched by them, but it could be said that these Bright Selves are the most temporal of all of your layers and facets of self.

They are also a part of you that helps remind you that there are others who affect you in meaningful and positive ways and that they have touched your life, they found you, they pivoted you in a moment that changed you forever. The Bright Self may be born and die in this life, but once alive in you, they are alive until your own death.

When one is faced with mortality and death, it is often the Bright Selves that come forward to bring focus to what matters in the life.

But you need not wait for mortality and death to remember this. Your Bright Selves are here, now, and they are the part of you that knows what matters NOW.

There will still be struggles, pain, suffering, personal and world events that are overwhelming, but the Bright Self knows this and can still make a moment meaningful. And one single moment can matter more than an eon.

LAB EXPERIMENT TWO:

Let yourself gravitate toward the Bright Self who seems the most organically and consistently alive for you in ways that you can say, "oh wow, yes, that is me!" Yes, there may be more than one, but one will likely stand out as most active. When you have identified that one, we invite each of you to bring that Bright Self into focus over the course of the next 7 days. Play with it as an idea and as a motivation. Play with it as a framework of permission to be your best even when you may not feel your best.

As you explore this experiment, it will likely reveal to you a new ease with which you can shift focus and feel effective, safe, and contributing to your life in meaningful ways. So often when one feels ineffective and unsafe and lacking in meaningful contribution, one simply endures and hopes for the best. But in bringing forth your Bright Self, you may find this changes. Bringing forth a beloved part of you helps you to spread that love to other layers and facets of you. In doing so, you then feel permission to contradict your overwhelm and try something different.

FEEDBACK: how do each of you feel about this information? We will take your questions now.

MEntity> ****QUEUE IS OPEN****

Yes, Diane.

DianeHB: If each Bright Self is not necessarily carried or generated by the role it's associated with, how come you described it as an influence from a particular role? Or are you just associating the energy with a role?

MEntity: 

This is because the Bright Self is not born from within, but born through interactions. They do correlate with a Role, but being a particular Role does not inherently mean the correlating Bright Self has been born. If you are a Sage and a Sage helped bring to life a Bright Self, then you may find that you relate to the Bright Self correlating with the Sage, but it would have been due to the interaction, not from within.

Further elaboration:

The person giving birth to a Bright Self will correlate that Bright Self to the Essence of that person and bring that version to life, regardless of which Bright Self was actually active in the other person. For example, a Sage may have a Priest-Bright Self active when engaging with a Server, but what is born in the Server is the Sage-related Bright Self.

We do not know why it is not a match for match propagation. We suspect it is due to the recipient offering a reflection to the influencer.

DianeHB: Very interesting

MEntity: Next, Andreas

Andreas: If someone wants to develop the bright selves currently missing (in my case Grateful Heart and Resilient Rebel), how can that be done? I wished to have traits like these long before today already because that would make it emotionally a lot easier, but it's really hard to get into it.

MEntity: 

Be a part of the world. The more exchanges one is open to from others, the more opportunities one may have for those moments that change you. That is the only way. It is the only element of the Personality that can only be born through interactions with others. As we said, one cannot hunt for this. There is no guarantee that one will activate all 7 in any lifetime, regardless of how much contact one has with others. But one can actively invite the possibility and then "see what happens."

We will say that most of the Bright Selves are born before the age of 21 in the most organic and often unnoticed ways. Bright Selves are born later in life, they tend to come as fairly significant breakthroughs. 

There those in the public spot light whose Bright Selves may be quite clear. Many teachers, activists, entertainers, etc. may reveal their Bright Self more often and if you can identify in someone the Bright Self you wish to develop, it may happen as you interact with them in various ways. 

Andreas: Thank you. (interesting wording, because I lately just said again "I need some kind of breakthrough", although in a different context)

MEntity: We suggest simply opening up and living your life as organically as you can and this allows the best range of possible encounters for activating a Bright Self you may not already have.

Andreas: I will try my best.

MEntity: Final question: MAUREEN

Maureen:

I know many ask this of you, in many ways, but the terror of our times is quite compelling and challenging.

What is happening in the world is really, really stressful right now. I’ve never felt so much overwhelm and pain with some days even wishing I wasn’t alive in it. I’m, frankly, terrified of living in a fascist world. I do manage, somehow to find bright spots but I wonder how much more of this I/we can take. Do you have any advice for how to bring our Bright Selves out when the world around us isn't looking very bright… in fact, it’s often terrifyingly dark?

MEntity: 

This is an important question. As Truth decays as a form of trusted currency, so to speak, Bright Selves are retreating. Not from fear or need for protection, but for lack of opportunity to be influential. With Truth being more and more ignored, distorted, or compartmentalized, there is a rise in noise. Just noise. When the world is mostly noise, no one is listening anymore. When no one is receptive, no Bright Selves can be born or be present.

Bringing your Bright Self forward in a conscious way helps one to not only reduce the noise, but also to be present for when those opportunities arise to inspire others or be inspired by others.

This is one of many small ways to help navigate the world in such a way that those small ways add up.

Maureen:

I still do that, I do what I can, but I find myself wondering if it's fake, somehow, to be that way when the world is burning down around us and many people, even people I know well, are willing to light the kindling to make a collapse come even quicker. It's like they've given up hope of salvaging what we can and making the most of what we have. 

I was also wondering if this is related to HOW we are changing. What type of Societal Change we are choosing as "caretakers" of our world. It feels like many want collapse and don't want to salvage what is working. It's like they've thrown up their hands up and are saying "everything is crap. Let's burn the whole damn house down". I don't believe that. I believe there is a lot of good here that we can work with. 

MEntity: Collapse is imminent at this point. The degree to which that collapse is catastrophic or creative is still uncertain. When the problems of the world are so systemic, they cannot be changed by the systems in place. New ones must emerge and grow. There are many new systems emerging but current systems continue to diminish or dismantle those new systems. This is why you see many willing to help with a collapse because it is a valid answer to the problems existing in the world. In the past, this was done through entire "resets" of civilization. A collapse was catastrophic. In a Mature Soul world, it may be too early for a Turning Point to come without collapse, but a collapse that inspires creativity is very different from a collapse that inspires defeat. Many do not wish to salvage what there is now because it is clear that what is currently in place as systems is not working. We would suggest that those who wish for more manageable and slow transition and those who are willing to take a risk with a creative collapse are on the "same side."

Maureen: It doesn't feel like we are in the same side. It feels like we are fighting each other which is creating further feelings of defeat. 

Andreas: Really? For me, it feels like we are, and just don't agree on how exactly to proceed.

MEntity: 

There are some who would prefer for catastrophic collapse, particularly younger souls, because catastrophic collapses can be exploited. However, we see most preferring a creative collapse, if a collapse is to come, a rapid dismantling of systems that would make room for new systems that are already in place, but simply diminished or undermined. 

In response to your feelings of being from different sides, this is likely due to the noise and lack of truth. The truth is that many of you are on the same side but the noise and lack of truth have left many of you retreating away from communication, understanding, listening, learning. There is only the fight to be heard, not the willingness to listen. We would also add that the degree to which you feel discomfort is not relevant to the degree to which you are on the same sides. For example, two people can ride a roller coaster and one may feel it is the end of the world while the other feels it makes the world even better. In both cases, the ride was the same.

Maureen: If both the Right and the Left keep up their tactics the "new systems" that are created will be fascism. That will be very hard to recover from in any future I see. 

MEntity: There are valid divisions among humans at the moment, but for those who wish for a better world for each other, there are only divisions in terms of priorities, not goals.

Maureen: 

I'm speaking for the U.S. It looks like France made some good choices and Britain. Although Britain had a horrible collapse that they had to live with for years. 

(If this is too much today, we can leave this to another time)

MEntity: 

Fascism is over in your world. It is dying as a concept. We cannot bring comfort with these words in the face of what you see in your world at the moment, but we also do not wish to bring comfort with these words. We only point to this dying ideal because it is dying. It is a violent and ugly death, but it is dying. We have no guarantees for your future, of course, but we can say that you are for more united than you may know.

Maureen: This, what you just said, is making me cry. 

MEntity: 

We can continue this discussion in other formats. For this Lab, we suggest bringing your attention back to the subject of consciously nurturing your Bright Self as a means of bringing some moments of inspiration to share. 

Good day to each of you. Goodbye, for now.