Throughout my life I’ve garnered my share of art and design awards. Beginning in second grade elementary, continuing through middle school, high school, and college. This trend spiked during my professional career. However, the two Humanitarian Awards I received at Skyland Trail in Atlanta, Georgia, are the two closest to my heart. That’s where I began shifting toward supporting and boosting the light of others. The narcissist within that ruled over me began breaking down. I realized the light I had been pursuing wasn’t my own. I was chasing a nightmare disguised as a lucid dream state.
This isn’t a boast, more to the point it’s a reflection of the moment my narcissistic tendencies began to dissolve inviting my innate empath back into my life. Growing up I had no idea what skills like active listening were. My sisters used to offer me a nickel to be quiet for five minutes. I never made a dime’s worth. I got roasted in 1996 when I had my first review with my boss. That was just the beginning of dismantling my self-centered nature. Little did I realize how envious I was of those around me who showed compassion for others. My other vices fueling deadly sins in my wake vanished overnight.
All I had to do was ask God to show me “blatant signs” that I was on the right path. He showed me how to not follow paths at all, but take to the sky.
“The shadow of an empath is born from endless giving. Once unleashed, it has the fire that cannot be tamed.”
— Carl Gustav Jung, Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst