Sunday, September 6, 2020

Articulation of Self

Articulation of Self

After listening to my girlfriend Alyssa’s podcast Saturday morning, it started an entirely new room of thought for me.  I ponder on my own legacy’s existence from time to time, especially dealing with my kids and grandsun, but before today I do not think that I ever dissected it.  The topic was “What Will Your Legacy Be?”  I think that my former perception of humility and its purpose stopped me from being purposeful about my own legacy.  The truth of the matter is whether you cultivate it or ignore it and let it grow like a weed, you will have a legacy.  I think the longevity of it depends a lot on whether you poured into it… That goes for both good and bad seeds.

Here are two of my favorite legacy quotes:


 It is interesting that I am turned-off by the quotes on legacy that discount leaving material things.  I think that is important as well.  Some people diminish the importance of that so much that go-fund-me fundraisers for funeral arrangements have become normal.  I believe they can both be important or at least placed in the same basket.

As I sat and listened to Alyssa and her sisterfriends, their transparency really made me introspective.  It made me dig deeper into the mindfulness of my own legacy.  Honestly, I have already identified the core thing that I want to be remembered for... my capacity to love.  I want the love that I give to permeate every interaction and leave a lingering effect.  Kind of a lofty thought but that is my mission. 

Once I followed along with their straightforward, meaningful, introspective words and comedy about the topic, I drove for a while in silence.  I wanted to think deeply about not only my legacy but also how I could make it more of a priority.  How can I ensure that my legacy will be manifested in the hearts of the people that I touch?  What steps could I take to make it unquestionable?  My first thoughts were actually about self-awareness and self-actualization. 

Oftentimes I go into what I call a “smell check” because people like me that are extreme optimists often struggle with delusion as well.  I thought about self-awareness for a bit.  As I stated, I have changed my perception of humility, not drastically but significantly enough.  I have been working actively on identifying the things I considered principles that were wrong.  I gained some of the ideologies through religiosity, some through influence and others from upbringing but my process of looking at each of them without those emotional pushes has been eye opening.  While in those thoughts the term Articulation of Self started ringing in my mind like a mental neon light.  😊

There are two definitions of articulation that I think fit.  This is how I want to exact my legacy.  

Articulation

1.     The formation of clear and distinct sounds in speech.   
The action of putting into words an idea or feeling of a specified type.

Expression.

2.    Clarity in the production of successive notes.

I know the second definition is in regards to music but it is so fitting.  I want my life and legacy to be and feel like music or poetry or dance. 

In the end, I realize that I cannot expect something to be unquestionable if I have not articulated it thoroughly.  I always feel like I might be a bit wordy but I despise being misunderstood. I have decided that I do not want my legacy misunderstood either.    So going forward, I want people to witness and feel the Articulation of Cat so that my legacy can be written on the hearts of anyone that I touch.  I do not want to leave my legacy in ambiguity or uncertainty.  I want to own the conveyance of what is being written about me.  I want my legacy of love to be known and unquestionable. 

Are you owning your legacy by being mindful of your articulation of self?

2 comments:

Tamika L Chester said...

Cat!!! This right here...Wow! First off, thank you so much for sharing your intimate thoughts with the world. I like you, am such an intentional person in all that I do, and I never want to be misunderstood. So when you said you didn’t want your legacy to be misunderstood, I felt that deeply. I love your introspection and willingness to unpack all of your truths and learned behaviors and attitudes, and then challenge them with the I tent to do the work. I also loved that you touched on the material part of legacy as well. I’ve had insurance for myself since I was 19 years old. Part of my legacy is not leaving my children and family trying to find the money to pay for my funeral while grieving. (Send me your email address I want to send you something.) This was so well thought out and articulated. Thank you so much for sharing. I’m looking forward to reading more of your thoughts on life. πŸ’žπŸ’žπŸ’ž

Ms. Cat said...

I truly appreciate you taking the time to read and for being a part of the Diva Den that pushed me along my way in this thought process. Thank you!! I’ll send you my email address in FB Messenger.