In our world, a devotion to self-awareness is an act of rebellion.

Storytellers have never been so vital; we now live in a world where anyone with a mobile device is part of the media system. There’s practically no barrier to entry to start creating content, putting it before a global audience and amassing a loyal following. With more voices finding platforms, we have a unique opportunity to get the stories right that have been wronged for centuries and shift the narratives that have previously caused immense, systemic trauma.

As storytellers, we can’t expect an audience to see things any deeper than we tell the story. We can’t expect any story’s complexity to be acknowledged or appreciated without first embracing the complexity within ourselves. This is the age of deep diving into sunken places and shattering them with light. This is the time to develop complicated, benevolent relationships with the messy balance of comfort and discomfort. We have a crowded, noisy landscape of truth versus agenda and so much media overstimulation that we rarely have significant time to get bored and ask ourselves provocative questions within our inner silence. Before we can tell better stories and create better media, we must make space for self knowledge and take up space with the disruptions and peace such a journey causes.

Right now, self awareness is a luxury of time and space. In our world, a devotion to self-awareness is an act of beautiful rebellion.

We’re not lost. We don’t need to be found like a set of misplaced car keys. What’s often lost from our lives is the free-time and space to be aware of ourselves and remember ourselves. That requires more than being here and present. It’s also an embracing of e-ve-ry-thing you are from your talents to distractions, your emotional journeys to your autopilot reactions and your intentions versus your impact.

? Self awareness is space to acknowledge strides you’ve made as well as work you still must do. Without this awareness, you don’t work through trauma; you only lean into it.

? Without self awareness, you don’t separate your true voice from your thoughts. You forget you are your own compass. And you don’t allow yourself your own duality, complexities and evolutions. So, Cultivate Your Self.