Jack Engler in the 1970’s said: “You need to be somebody before you are nobody.” He was commenting on the fact that there needs to be an intact sense of self before you start to take it apart. I would suggest that we look at it from the other direction. Our biggest problem is our self! We are not good enough, pretty enough, smart enough, successful enough etc. It all revolves around who we believe we are and the belief that we are flawed. Is this all we are? Are we more than our self? Who were we before we had a self?
Even without a self we are these wonderful humans with a tremendous potential. To be human is to be divine. The unbelievable capacity to connect with the world through our senses. The universal and egalitarian energy we all have that connects us. There is also the unique gift each one of us was given that calls to be lived through us. Whether it is artistic, dramatic, scientific, caring, athletic etc. One has self-worth because “you are, not who you are.” Unfortunately, this primal essence is obscured by the superimposition of a created self that masks everything else.
We need to look beyond the clouds of deception of our self to see what our true nature is. When your mind starts to criticize and judge you, remind yourself and connect back with this nobody you were before you were a somebody. Become the SELF you were before you were a self. This is not about ego dissolution but discovery of who you are beyond your story.
by Dr. Phil Blustein