In celebration of my art-media fairy godmother's birthday, I was invited to watch the movie Elvis with her and her family. It was an intense and transformative experience that I will never forget for a number of reasons. This article is going to explore the idea that there may be physical indicators of health that we can see that are related to self-expression and authenticity. This is important because I believe the #1 reason why I personally lost everything is because I was living an inauthentic life. I loved my life and enjoyed everything I was doing at the time, but I also suppressed my own intelligence, my own intuition, and, most importantly, my power (aka my voice) in exchange for the piece of paper that would result in becoming Dr. Brooks.
(As I'm writing this I am making it impossible to publish because the desire to edit is incessant - so please be forgiving about the wording and the grammar - I'm trying to practice not wasting time on the perfect expression - just the act of expression itself)
The movie was filled with intense moments of authentic expression that were inherently moving to his audience -both in the movie and in real life. During those moments, the narrative suggests that Elvis had to express with his ENTIRE body or not at all. If he was physically restricted in any way it would impact his emotional body, his physical body, and then, of course, his performance quality. It was as if he could only perform what resonated with him from the inside out. So, naturally, in the process of trying to adher to "rules" to make white people more comfortable, his performance quality was expressively diminished. He was not interested in stripping the "black" from the "white." I love him for this.
There were several attempts to contain him, but he rebelled - his movement and style was strongly influenced by his absorption of life inside of the black community. Without the infusion of black expression, he would not be special. He would just be a stiff country music singer. What made him special is exactly what made him "dangerous." In addition, on a very basic level, seeing a white man moving his pelvis seemed to upset a lot of people with perceived power - so they tried to contain him. (I believe that he was also upstaging the status-quo for men not being taught how to use their bodies to stimulate orgasms inside of the women - otherwise - why would they try so hard to suppress him?) The thing white people historically want more than money is power. (And I am living proof that you do not have to have money to have power...but I digress).
It is clear to the audience that he was not designed to perform in a traditional way - his entire body was his instrument. And he thrived as long as he was moving and performing. He urged for world-wide audience participation (Astro nerds - Sag is his Asc, of course). His body, mind, and spirit were all synched during each performance and he delivered the music from inside out. When he tried to live his life apart from his authentic truth, his personal and physical life diminished. When he made his career his obligation, his performances on stage were still authentic, but he was not able to live his personal truth - he knew he was meant to make a world-wide impact, but that energy was bottled up by staying in one place. That's when he started using medication to enhance his energy levels. When we separate our outside selves from our authentic ourselves, we energetically clog our own feeding tube and eventually we starve or implode from the inside out.
Imagine you are holding a grenade. Imagine lighting it with the intention to throw it. Now that it is lit, imagine yourself decide to ignore all of your impulses to move. What happens next? You blow yourself up. I believe that's how authentic inspiration unexpressed can kill a human. It is extremely dangerous to hold all of that energy close to your body for any duration of time (timing is also meant to be #Inspired). If you're designed/#inspired/have the impulse to share it with others, you HAVE TO THROW IT. You may not always hit your target, but you've saved your own life by throwing the concentrated energy away from your body. Grenades are not designed to be held, they are designed to be thrown. The same principle applies to talent. The more potent your talent, the more destructive it is to suppress it.
And that's where I come in. I have learned that I am a very intense person who feels #Inspired all of the time. For most of my life I have taken my talents & #inspired #impulses for granted. It is human to assume everyone feels the same things you are when experiencing music or that other humans shares your passion for brushing their teeth. I looked around tonight and I only saw two people moving in response to music - I realized that my response to music is abnormal - I can't sit still and listen. My body HAS to move or I have to withdraw from the listening experience. I can't be an active participant while sitting still. I just can't. And tonight I saw that most of the other people in the theatre can sit still. Which makes me ask myself - what else am I assuming people are #impulsed to do? And what is going on with my primal urge to move? As of tonight I consider that impulse unique and #inspired. #Inspired for me and for the two other people moving in the theatre with me. It is an impulse that comes from the inside out. What other impulses am I assuming other people feel? And how does that intertwine with the constant choreography I have going on in my head? Aren't other people making that connection? I realize how simple and naive I sound, but I believe that I am #Inspired to write this for a reason.
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