An Interview With Self: Cultivating Personal Power
Note From The Author: I like to write my blog posts in the format of an interview I’m having with myself. I find it more empowering to both myself and others to know we may have different points of view and that there is no “one size fits all” when it comes to decisions, values, and framing experiences. If you like, you can reflect on the questions at the beginning of each post for yourself – they might make good journaling prompts or topics for contemplation. (If you care to share, I’d love to read your responses in the comment section below.)
Here is me – you do you!
Q: Do you notice any areas in your life where you would like to step into your personal power more? If so, how might you support yourself in doing so? What are some of the things that make you feel empowered?
A: That’s kind of a tough question for me to answer, because I generally feel pretty empowered in my life. I think I’d have to say that realms with heavy indoctrination tend to have high potential for me to feel a lack of personal power.
This can include everything from what is considered professional decorum to spiritual beliefs, really. Any place I am asked to accept a set of beliefs without thinking critically about them and their purpose and implications can become a place that disempowers me.
Take, for example, a professional community of wellness practitioners. There are probably certain beliefs that are indoctrinated as a part of our training. Some may be useful, while some may be benign or even harmful. And many of these — we accept primarily based on faith, rather than any concrete evidence. I think to some degree we may actually have no choice but to accept them, or else be left totally unable to practice these modalities. But I’d say at some point there are some beliefs we need to seriously question if we want to be truly empowered.
I think when it comes to me stepping further into my personal power, one of the most supportive steps I can take is to find my own voice and intuition, and to question dogma. Considering questions like the ones at the beginning of this article, and finding my own answers, is one of the ways that I do that.
When I answer these kinds of questions, I have space to be wrong, to create my own answer that is unique from anyone else’s, and to let others answer these questions for themselves (if they want to). They don’t really rely on me accepting anything as true just to make a paradigm stand, and I can adapt my answers as I learn new information and evolve.
I think that’s why I would rather answer questions on some of these topics than try to give others dogmatic advice on them. My advice is bound to suck for some people, plain and simple. And frankly, it’s not really my job to give people advice on most of these topics. So yeah, I guess I feel a little more empowered when I pull back far enough from indoctrination to stop doing it to others. Hence, my writing style of interviewing myself…LOL.
When I think about what makes me feel empowered…wow, there can be so many things! Completing projects, learning and applying new knowledge or skills, solving problems, creative pursuits…those are all activities that come to mind.
But I think personal power goes farther than that for me. Freedom to fail, to be imperfect, to be different and unique, play a role as well. Knowing my individual voice is important, and feeling seen and heard by others are parts of it. Sometimes we equate personal power with confidence or an ability to take action, but I don’t think they are completely equivalent. I think personal power is more complex than a lot of people give it credit for.
What does it mean for you?
