by MichaelaChung | May 6, 2014 | Authenticity, Blog, Nonconformity
Robotic efficiency is raping your soul. The world has become dangerously obsessed with productivity and computer-like efficiency. It’s normal to forget to eat. To breath. To sleep. The problem is, humans are meant to eat, and breathe, and sleep … and laugh, and play, and make mistakes. Machines don’t do any of those things. They are objects. They are made to be sold, bought, used, and replaced. Lessons on humanity from Boko Haram Last night I read a CNN article about Boko Haram kidnapping more than 200 Nigerian girls.The chilling headline of the article says it all: ‘I will sell them,’ Boko Haram leader says of kidnapped Nigerian girls The article goes on to quote the Boko Haram leader as saying, “There is a market for selling humans. Allah says I should sell. He commands me to sell. I will sell women. I sell women.” His words are sickening, to say the least. Humans are not factory-made commodities. They are not meant to be sold on the open market. Anyone with even a thread of moral fiber would agree with that. Are you for sale? And, yet, many of us have put ourselves up for sale. We’re holding up an invisible sign that says: “For sale by owner – will work with computer-like efficiency at the expense of my own happiness and wellbeing. Now accepting American Express.” We are working harder, smarter and faster for the profit of everyone but ourselves. The idea of living life on our own terms is a radical concept. We are lead to believe that only freaks and misfits would choose a life that...
by MichaelaChung | Apr 11, 2014 | Authenticity, Blog, Relationships
When we begin embracing our authentic self, there are consequences. Many of these consequences are surprisingly delicious, and completely welcome. They leave us asking, why didn’t I do this sooner? But authenticity also comes with some distressing side effects. Sometimes, when we reveal who we truly are, we make others feel uncomfortable. The reality is, not everyone knows how to love the real you. Peeling back the layers The real you is an anomaly. For the right people, you are a welcome exception to the rule – a beautifully strange addition to their world. For others, you are a looming question mark in a land of absolutes. Your complexity stirs confusion, and even fear, in such people. They are shallow swimmers, easily drowned by the depths of your heart. They’re not ready for deeper penetration. This is unfortunate because peeling back the layers of one’s personality is a form of foreplay; the slow, tender undressing of the soul is the definition of seduction. Many people can’t get beyond the first layer. They’re so busy fumbling with your overcoat that they never discover the French lace underneath. Don’t bend, don’t water it down For some, you will always be too much, or not enough. In their eyes, you are too strange, too different, too difficult to understand, and easy to take for granted. They want more of what you aren’t, and less of what you truly are. They will try to change you. Don’t give in. Resist the temptation to flatten your complexity and water down your soul. “Don’t bend; don’t water it down; don’t try to make...
