Welcome into my mind

Part 2 in the Elemental Series – Ether

INTRO

Welcome to part 2 in the Elemental Series. A series of brand storytelling posts intended to inspire, enrich and captivate. To activate the free expression of creativity in its purest form.

THE STORY 

It was dark in the box under the house that stood on tall timber stumps, but the little boy liked it there. He spent many hours sitting there with his knees pulled up under his chin, wandering off to wherever his imagination took him. No more interfering words and thoughts of other people in his head to disturb him. Just an open mind letting in impressions and experiences that he could mould into stories about other worlds and realities. To the boy, life was like a big book with lots of empty pages on which he could write to his heart’s content.

Only moments before I start writing, the rain stops. I look to my right through the window of our house in IJhorst. My attention is drawn to the friendly rays of sunlight spreading a golden hue over the yellowy red canopy of the trees outside our front yard. Despite this brief sunny intermezzo, everything is dripping wet and I am glad to be inside where it is warm and dry. Then a deep sense of gratitude takes hold of me. Not only for taking the time to appreciate this sudden display of Nature’s beauty on my proverbial doorstep, but for its insightful message as well.

“Hmm,” I sigh with a smile as warm as the sunrays outside my window. I recognize the analogue of this natural phenomenon to my ability to shine a light on anything that pops into my mind and gain useful insights. It dawns on me that what felt like a distraction at first, is actually the opposite. Am I making any sense? Probably not, judging by the imaginary frown on your face. Okay then, come with me on a quick little trip back in time and I will illustrate how it came to be that I can get a pretty good understanding of what is going on in other people’s minds while knowing very little about them.

From an early age, I sensed the moods and feelings of the people around me. I felt their vibe, so to speak. At the same time, I also sensed that the words people spoke were not always congruous with what they felt and thought. Pretty soon and without being aware of it at the time, I began to ignore what I sensed and believed what other people said instead. Before long, I instantly and subconsciously adopted other people’s thoughts, beliefs and perspectives as if they were my own. It was not until later on in life that I discovered that by not thinking for myself, I had become overly adaptive and self-sacrificing.

I will not go into detail about the self-destructive effects of this social desirability. What I do want to tell you, is that after many years of putting in the inner work, I am now able to distinguish between thoughts of my own and those of other people. I think my own thoughts and am no longer distracted and restrained by thoughts coming from outside. Having liberated myself at last, I constantly make an effort to open my mind wide and broaden my horizon. Having said this, I have arrived at the answer to my question of what caused me to readily take on other people’s thoughts in the past. Why was it so easy for people to get inside my head to the extent that I would hear their voices dictating what to think and how to act?

At the beginning of this year, I joined my girlfriend on a journey into the world of Human Design. According to this system, we all have a design or blueprint that describes our potential and what we have in ourselves to become. Without getting technical, every design has 9 centres, some defined and others undefined. It turns out that my head centre is undefined, or open. So, I literally have an open mind. No wonder people were able to wander in and out of my mind. On the sunny side, it explains why I easily understand what occupies people’s minds simply by interacting closely with them.

The way I see it, my mind wanders along with their mind for a bit. Now I mention it, as long as I can remember, my mind has always had a habit of wandering. When I was a young boy, I used to sit in an old washing machine box under our house on stumps in Rockhampton, where, as a self-proclaimed explorer of the unknown, I wondered about the world around me. This provided me with information that I described to myself in the form of stories. And although I am a natural-born storyteller, it was not until many years later that I put the stories that come to mind in writing. By the way, did you know that the verb ‘to describe’ comes from the Latin word ‘scribere’, meaning ‘to write’. Hence the English noun ‘scribe’.

Now, as I stare dreamily out the window in IJhorst, I realize that writing stories is more than a way of expressing myself and my experiences. It is a means of connecting with other people. Let me illustrate this with the symbolism of the kingfisher. The kingfisher symbolizes expression, communication, and the connection between the spiritual world and the material world. Like the kingfisher, I connect with both worlds. My mind translates the physical experiences of my body in the form of stories for my spirit to understand and integrate into the expression of itself. Ultimately, the sharing of these stories with others, helps me and them to experience connectedness.

I believe that everything is connected through the so-called fifth element of ether. In Zen Buddhism, ether is referred to as the void. The ancient Greeks called ether the quintessence and believed that ether permeated all space and transmitted waves. Both beliefs make sense to me. According to quantum physicists, such as Nikola Tesla and Albert Einstein, we are in an infinite space, or void, where everyone and everything is made up of energy. All energy has its own vibrational frequency that anyone or anything with the same frequency can tune into.

This also goes for our thoughts, feelings and words. These are simply energy vibrating at a certain frequency. Depending on their frequency, certain thoughts, feelings and words resonate more with certain people than others. That is why it is very important to me to be aware of what I feel when I am writing. What I feel and think is energy and will inevitably be absorbed by the words that I choose to write down. These words will attract people who are on the same frequency. So, words are extremely powerful. In order to reach the right people – my target audience – I make sure my thoughts, feelings and words are congruous with the message I want to get across.

This takes me back to the incongruity that I sensed in people’s words when I was a young boy. Not only can I easily sense if someone else is communicating congruously, I can sense it in myself as well. All it takes is constant retuning into myself. This retuning prevents me from mistaking other people’s energy for my own while keeping an open and receptive mind. It enables me to pluck messages from the ether, as it were, and describe the information that they contain in stories for other people to read. This is exactly what I was doing in the cardboard box when I was a boy. Come to think of it, by sitting in my box I was actually thinking outside the box or square.

Nowadays, I no longer sit in a box to let my mind do the wandering that enables me to write effortlessly. The wandering happens naturally, as does the inflow of inspiration. Very often, I am inspired by Nature and natural phenomena like the rays of sunlight in our front yard just now. That is what I meant about it not being a distraction but the opposite instead.

Because, before I began writing this story, I knew what I wanted to write about, only I had no idea how. Like usual, I stared up at the clouds drifting by in the sky and before long, my mind started wandering. In the end, the distraction led to this story. A story with which I intend to provide enrichment. So, I am grateful for my open mind and its receptivity to other people’s minds. Having said this, I want to thank you for wandering with me for a while. And if you want some storytelling done, you know where to find me. Welcome into my mind.

ABOUT PART 2

Isn’t it fascinating how our minds work? In Part 1 of the Elemental Series about the element of water, I wrote that, in addition to the other three elements, I might write a fifth part about the element of ether as well. And now I end up writing the fifth part before the parts about the other three elements. This demonstrates what I was telling you earlier on in this story that words are very powerful. Hence, the expression “Abracadabra” from the Aramaic phrase “Avra kehdabra,” meaning: “I will create as I speak.”

Now, you may be wondering how this fits in with the context of brand storytelling and branding in general. What I intend to demonstrate with this story, is the connectivity that is essential if we are to attract our target audience and express who we are and the value we provide. In other words, telling the story of our brand in terms of our core identity and value proposition.

Ether is the odd one out, as unlike the four classic elements of earth, water, air and fire, it is not perceivable through any of the five senses. However, it is the only element that is always in contact with everything. It is energy and all energy has a vibrational frequency. that can be tuned into by anyone or anything with the same frequency. So, ether facilitates connectivity through its frequency. The frequency of the words we speak or write evoke thoughts and feelings, making our audience receptive to the stories we tell about our brand.

ABOUT THE ELEMENTAL SERIES

Would you like to know what inspired me to begin writing the Elemental Series? Read Part 1.

Captivate your audience  

How did you experience this story? I am very curious about your thoughts and feelings. So, feel free to leave a comment below or in an email to email@wimbeunderman.com. And be sure to subscribe to my blog if you want to be notified of the other parts to this series or of other posts in the future. Or would you like to find out what my services can help you to achieve? Contact me and tell me about what you are working on. I would love to captivate your audience through powerful brand storytelling.

Wim Beunderman
Straight to the Heart

Symbolism  

The kingfisher symbolizes: the connection between the spiritual world and the material world; communication; expression; peace; prosperity; abundance; focus; and a sign that you are on the right path.

Images  

‘Clouds’ by Dimitrisvetsikas on Pixabay
‘Sunrise Trees’ by Wynand van Niekerk
‘Building’ by Wolfgang 1958 on Pixabay
‘Sunset’ by Photoeightyeight on Pixabay
‘Bird’ by Taligar on Pixabay
‘Nature’ by Memory Catcher on Pixabay
‘Box’ by Humusak on Pixabay‘
Coffee’ by Engin Akyurt on Pixabay