The voices of the ego come through in whispers, loud screaming and everything in between. With awareness and practice you will learn to hear ego talking and be able to step back, laugh and let it go. In the busyness of the mind ego sounds like just another voice but it’s not. At first the ego awareness may come slowly and often after you have acted or reacted. With skillful awareness ego-spotting will become second nature and happen in real time allowing you time to change course on the fly.
One winter I lived alone in a tiny beach studio in Santa Cruz. What I had hoped would be non-stop fun time turned out to be a quiet moment. A failed relationship and sold business left me with lots to think bout and nothing to do. With only the waves to keep me company I slowly began to hear my thoughts. Lack of a TV, chores, family, work, shopping, friends, hobbies created an open space in time where I could hear my soul have a tug-of-war conversation with ego. There was a massive canyon separating me from myself. I had some idea what these voices were and why they were speaking to my sadness, but I felt lost. I realized at that moment I had the rare opportunity to be living on the outside looking in to the center. Instead of getting caught up in the insanity I decided to step back, listen and take notes. It was hard, the ornery ego often got the best of me leading to some heavy drinking to quiet the chatter. The down-time was valuable and will stay with me forever. I learned to spot the ego voice among the chatter and can often catch it in mid sentence. Intellectually I know love is the only voice to listen to but this modern world can be confusing and the ego voice is always there stirring it up. Step back, laugh, learn, let it go, move on.
Affirmation: I don’t believe everything I think.
“If you are alone long enough to get thoroughly acquainted with yourself, you will hear whisperings from the universal source of all consciousness which will inspire you.”
~ Walter Russell from The Man Who Tapped the Secrets of the Universe
