Most of our energy goes into upholding our importance.”
Carlos Casteneda
Self importance can take a number of forms. We could think of it like positioning or status (which places us “relative to” another) or flat out arrogance.
It’s also a subtle beast, creeping in as the driver behind actions both big and small.
What will people think?
What might happen if I speak up?
What if they don’t like this?
This constant effort is draining.
It slows us down, it stops us from creating the work that we want to do.
When we can let go of self importance (maybe it’s just for a moment!), it frees up a tremendous amount of energy. According to Casteneda, this allows us to do two things:
- Free our energy to face the unknown – do new work, try new things.
- Have the capacity and bandwidth to see the true beauty in the world around us.
Often heroes, artists and creators that we look up to have not only developed their craft, but have freed up enough energy to do their work.
By dropping a little self importance, they’ve found the energetic resources to face the true task at hand.
