Who am I? Who are you?
It’s so easy to lose yourself, to let other people’s labels begin to define your identity. What makes us who we are is so much more complex than we think. Your perception of your individual identity can just as easily become a barrier to your personal evolution and happiness.
This brilliant documentary, In & Of Itself, explores these basic questions and might leave you with a different perception afterwards. I highly recommend you add this to your watchlist. Watch it. You will be very glad you did.
Divine Timing
The universe dropped In & Of Itself into my lap at the perfect moment by way of a good friend. Out of the blue this past Friday I got a Facebook message from my friend Romeo, If you get a chance watch In & Of Itself on Hulu. My wife and I searched Hulu, pressed play, and began watching the documentary just a few minutes later.
Like many of us, lately, I’ve been feeling the effects of almost a year in isolation. I felt myself starting to take a downward spiral and losing the enthusiasm and wonder at what each new day would bring.
There’s so much about our pre-Covid life that I miss -- visiting with family and friends, outdoor activities, travel. I guess what I miss most is the freedom to live life normally and not to have to think about what I’ve touched, or if I’ve washed my hands for the fiftieth time for twenty seconds, or if my elderly Mom will be safe from the virus another week until she can get vaccinated.
What this documentary taught me will stay with me forever, mainly because it came into my life at the precise time I needed it. You see, after working on my last book, Mindful Moments, for almost six months of the previous year (2020) my aspirations for it began to consume me. It felt like the right book at the right time, and I was so eager for it to help people who needed it. Initial sales were great but then stalled drastically, which is somewhat normal a month or so after a launch. Despite every effort to market the book and build a community around it, it just didn’t get the support I expected.
I know from past experiences that the world of publishing is very fickle. This time felt different, because the book was all I had to focus my time and energy on. In retrospect, it began to occupy a larger part of my world than it should have. I started to let it define me.
In & Of Itself shook me awake again in a profound way, it reminded me that this isn’t how my story ends. In fact, it's a beginning. There are many more chapters. Life is all about timing, and it’s about lessons. Despite our efforts to control every little aspect of our individual destinies, the universe (or a higher power….or whatever it is you believe) ultimately decides the outcome. Our main job to decipher and learn those lessons life gives us. Then we try again.
Over the coming years I hope the book finds those who are meant to read it, if that happens I’ll be more than satisfied.
There are so many layers of In & Of Itself to process. Just like life, there are the tricks, there's the slight of hand, but there's also the message. That's where the gold is.
At its core, committing to a life of living mindfully really just involves waking up each day and beginning a brand new journey of getting reacquainted with the image staring back at you in the mirror and the world around you.
So I ask again, Who Am I? Who Are You?
The answer to these questions are complicated and our jobs are to try to rediscover this, from cradle to grave, again and again, every day for the remainder of our existence.
With Gratitude,
Eric Vance Walton
Most of us have experienced a moment of perfect peace at least once in our lives. In these moments we lose ourselves and feel connected to everything. I call these mindful moments. Words can’t describe how complete they make us feel.
These moments are usually fragile, evaporating in seconds. What if there was a way to train your mind to experience more of them? It’s deceptively easy and requires nothing more than a subtle shift in mindset. My new book, Mindful Moments, will teach you to be much more content despite the chaos and imperfect circumstances continuing to unfold around you. Upgrade your life experience today for only $15.99 on Amazon.com.
Let’s Keep In Touch
You were so excited about the bike that I forgot to ask you how the book was going. I'm sorry to read that things are slow. However, as you rightly said, this is just the beginning. I think all processes are not equal and the launch of your book has come at a different and crucial time. These days I was talking to an old man in a village near the city where I live, and he told me, very happy, that he would never have imagined that at this point in his life he would have to learn to wash his hands. I felt happy and I thought: we are alive, and as such the learning process does not stop. Because learning is synonymous with life. I hug you tightly. Take care of yourself. Greetings, Eric. :)
Thank you, Nancy! It was initially going well but sales dropped off and we got zero bids on the NFT on SuperRare so Ophelia likely won't be creating any more of those for the book illustrations. The word-of-mouth advertising and community support I was hoping for just never kicked in.
That's not to say all is lost. Things could still turn around. My first novel, Alarm Clock Dawn, had been published for three years before it caught fire (thanks to Steemit).
You are so right, learning must never stop. I believe the moment we stop learning, we start dying.
Have a wonderful rest of your week, Nancy! Take care.
Oh, wow, that sucks about the book. I am really sorry to hear that. If things weren't in the condition they are in now, would you be able to do like a book tour? Is that something that people even do anymore? I am glad that you were able to find this documentary to help you unpack and work through some of that. My wife and I don't get Hulu so we usually wait for stuff to build up and then we do a free trial. That's what she did with Handmaids Tale anyway.
Kind of par for the course in publishing. Launching a book is a little like launching a rocket. You can put a lot of time and effort into the initial marketing but if it doesn’t catch on and start getting word of mouth advertising then it doesn’t have that “boost” needed to escape the atmosphere. Alarm Clock Dawn did that three years after publication so there’s still a chance. I’ve never done book tours but mainly just focus on online/social media marketing. Traditional publishing houses still finance book tours for really well-known authors but that would be tough to do for a self published book. It would be super fun if we had our RV to do a cross country tour announcing events along the way. Maybe that could be an idea for the future. Oh man if you get a chance to see this doc I highly recommend it. It’s a Hulu original so I doubt it’ll appear anywhere else in the near future. We just finished Lupine on Netflix too, it’s awesome as well. I hope you have a good week my friend!
Thanks! You too! I think the fact that State Parks in Michigan were open through most of the summer is the one thing that saved us this past year. That and us being essential employee's and getting to go to work every day.
The parks were helpful for us too, and cycling for me. This year we'll have the eBikes so we'll be able to spend more time on those for pleasure and errands. It's looking like travel and life in general won't be back to normal until the fall with the way things are going here in the U.S.
We have about eight camping trips booked so far and we are doing a mini vacation with my in laws to a rental house in Hocking Hills this summer. You are going to ride those ebikes into the ground! 😀
Oh man, Hocking Hills! My dad used to drive my brother and I down to Old Man's Cave and we used cook breakfast on a campfire then hike all day through the woods. We undoubtedly will get our money's worth out of those bikes. I can't wait until we have our first 40 degree day.
I've never been there, so I look forward to doing some exploring!
hello dear friend @ericvancewalton good afternoon
People are vulnerable to these things, it is common that we are disappointed when things do not go as expected, the important thing about all this is that we can learn from the situation, like when we were children, every time we fell we got up and returned to walk until you do it so well to never fall again, that's what life is about, repeating this process and enjoying every moment, you never know what will happen tomorrow, life is shorter than we suppose.
I really appreciate that you have shared this experience with us.
you had a happy start to the week
Thanks @jlufer! I appreciate the comment and hope you have a good week as well!
This is a very wonderful piece..life is full of lessons, the sooner we get used to that, the better it is for us.. The only thing we can use this lessons for is to help us get better in the future
Thank you!