Nicodemus and the Truth

[The Stage is on Fire] is a page-turner in which, much like life, there are no easy answers and yet each step of the journey yields insight and hope. This work of heart must not be missed!

Melanie Faith

Creative Writing Teacher, Essayist & Poet.

Katie Steedly’s first-person piece [The Unspeakable Gift] is a riveting retelling of her participation in a National Institutes of Health study that aided her quest to come to grips with her life of living with a rare genetic disorder. Her writing is superb.

The Society of Professional Journalists

In recognition of receiving the Dateline Award for the Washingtonian Magazine essay, The Unspeakable Gift.

I thank you … It is the authenticity of your “class notes”; and it is the delicacy and skill with which you present the nuances of classroom life and the actuality of your students’ and fellow teachers’ lives.

Maxine Greene

Philosopher and Education Scholar

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“How can one be born again?” Nicodemus to Jesus

Rather than write about times, of which there are many, that I have not lived my truth, I want to explore times that I have actually acted out of love and what that feels like. I want to use these thoughts, this knowledge of my True Self, to create more true moments in my life.

When I am Living My Truth

My stomach doesn’t hurt.

My stomach lets me know when I am living out of alignment. My gut churns. Deep dread settles in. The only remedy is to take a second, think about it, and make it right as much as possible – to realign the situation. That is often harder to do than you might think because it requires considering things like getting sucked in to dysfunction, making the situation worse by not simply letting go, losing presence in a situation and living in worry, fear, and anxiety.

I sleep well.

My thoughts spin at night when I am not being my True Self. I can lay there for hours chewing on what if scenarios. I can ruminate on coulda, shoulda, woulda. I can site wide-eyed and wonder what the hell happened: or I can be still. My True Self chooses stillness. My True Self breathes. My True Self rests. My True Self sleeps.

I am able to create.

My True Self creates. I sing and dance with my muse when I am my True Self. Fire flows from my fingers when I an my True Self. I am about building things, bringing people together, jumping with both feet when I am my True Self. Tearing down and diminishing my self or others seems crazy when I am my True Self. Certain people are described as being “creatives.” People with the capacity, ability, and gift of creativity. People with creativity of all definitions and descriptions. I want to argue everyone has a creative spark and that spark comes from our True Selves.

I attract positive people and things.

This is perhaps the easiest thing to doubt about my True Self. The idea that we can actively and intentionally bring our good to us can be hard to understand. It can smell like rose colored crap. It can challenge every pragmatic, logical, reasoned thought we have ever had. That does not have to be the case. Think about positive people and things. (Surround an attraction to negative people and things with love and let them live quietly inside the Fake Self.) Positive is powerful. Positivity radiates, expands, and generates.

I am born again to my true self.

The idea of being born again, in the sense of being rescued from original sin, has never really sat well with me. I am someone who believes we are born in to grace and love – original blessing. Being born again to my True Self feels like that to me. It carries with it the idea that being born again is based on a loving and honest relationship with myself and others. Being born again to my True Self breathes in growth, evolution, and learning, and breathes out compassion, humility, and courage.

https://kitt.global/february-20-nicodemus-and-the-truth-mark-nepo-the-book-of-awakening/