Me and My Three Selves | Kim Barnwell

Winter has arrived, and here is the proof! This picture was taken outside my window last week. It truly is a beautiful site!

The December Issue of Tone is out and yours truly has an article in it. For those who don’t receive the Tone Magazine, here it is:

Me and My Three SelvesDifferent teachings and philosophies speak of the various aspects of the self: higher self, lower self, the inner witness or observer, mind, emotion, spirit, unconscious, preconscious, conscious, God self, little self, ego, id, super-ego… the list goes on. As you can see, regardless of which school of thought one follows, there are many dimensions to who we experience as ourselves.

To consciously create your life, you need to become aware of the various aspects of yourself. All dimensions of you make up the “you” who is the main attractor factor of your creations. While the law of attraction explains that we attract what we focus our attention on, our main attractor factor is the “who” we are, who is focusing attention.

Here is what I’ve been noticing about the various dimensions of myself lately.

I’ve become increasingly aware of my observer self who is often intrigued and fascinated with what goes on in my mind. It really helps me detached from the inner dialogue (sometimes drama) that is happening and it notices how the thoughts are affecting me. My observer-self notices the difference between my other two selves and likes to direct me to my greater self (a.k.a. higher self, God self, Christ self).

This dimension of me is quite wise (no idea where she gets her stuff), often has enlightening perspectives to share with me and offers me the best advice. This self keeps me in the flow and feeling good! This is the aspect of me, I want to create my reality!

My third self – well, to be frank, leaves much to be desired and often grates on my nerves. It offers the worst advice, pulls me down emotionally, and says the nastiest things about me and others. In the past, it has tried to lift me up by inflating my ego in ways that have led to humiliating experiences. It tells me how I can’t, won’t and shouldn’t even think of doing anything daring or risky that would be beneficial for my development. This self goes by various names like saboteur, ego, gremlin – I’ve been partial to the term gremlin lately. As I’m writing this, this aspect of me is telling me that I sound nuts right now while my greater self is saying; “they know what you’re talking about, keep writing” and I my observer self is giving me these words to write.

My three selves: observer self, greater self, and gremlin self – then there is me. Me is the one who is experiencing all my selves. I am the one who is at some level giving attention to the part of myself expressing through me and as me. It is the part choosing, consciously or unconsciously, the “who” that I am, who is attracting to me. So, there is me, and my three selves, all of whom are the creators of my daily life.

However, you perceive or experience your whole self, as you become increasingly aware of the various aspects of yourself, you can consciously choose who you are at any moment. Having said that, having to consciously choose who to be at every moment is a tall order indeed and is an unrealistic expectation of yourself. Therefore, I offer you this prayer, to help direct all of who you are who to be, as you consciously create each day.

Through Me (note to selves)

Through me see beauty
Through me see potential
Through me feel healthy
Through me feel joy
Through me experience prosperity
Through me experience freedom
Through me express kindness
Through me express authentically
Through me hear possibilities
Through me hear truth
Through me demonstrate faith
Through me demonstrate respect
Through me serve
Through me inspire
Through me live life
Through me love

Published in Tone Magazine December 2007 issue.