Authority

Authority

The root word of authority is author. The one deciding what happens on the page. We are the authors of what happens, we are the meaning-makers.

If everything that happens is happening in relation to something else, each point of view has the opportunity to create their own meaning of the same event. Sure there are universal laws and objective truth, but once a word is spoken of it, it now has the inflection or point-of-view of the author, you.

Our life becomes one of authorship. In our minds, we write out our day, we write out our next conversations, we are always authoring the next thing that comes. In our memories, we are writing our memoirs or things we wish we’d said.

Sometimes we hand over authority or authorship. Schools are ghost writing the education of our children, the way we sit at work (in the car, watching TV) is ghostwriting the way our body is shaped, and our jobs authorizes what kind of house we can afford.

For brief periods, giving over authority allows for efficiency. I can let the experts fix my car or I let experts tell me how to respond to a pandemic.

Personal Authority is essentially having a say and how we say it. Authority also exists in what “I” say to “myself.” The way we speak to ourselves is the person we become, so it is helpful to write loving inner dialogue.

When it’s not a pandemic or surgery, why do we hand the power of our pen over to Gurus?

We usually ask, “am I doing this right?”

As soon as the question has been asked, we are offering our authority over to another human. If we aren’t careful, our inner, innate, imaginative learner is now stepping into a world of right and wrong. We become a subject of their authority, for as long as we seek their answers to our questions.

One of our birthrights, is to be the author of our own journey. Be careful handing your authority away.

Enjoy the learning experience and don’t worry about trying to do it right for external validation.

The teacher and the Guru can be helpful to a point, but at some point need to hand pen back and say “why don’t you tell me your way.”

Write it your way and be satisfied.