“i have made progress.”
“i have changed.”
“i am doing better.”
“i am happier now.”
“i have figured something out.”
It can sound positive. Even empowering.
And in many ways, it is.
But look a little closer.
What’s at the center of all of it?
“belief in i.”
A new version, perhaps.
A better version.
A more aware version.
A more successful or healed version.
But still… a version.
And from there, something subtle continues.
Life becomes a story about that “i.”
What it has done.
What it is becoming.
What it has achieved… or still needs to fix.
Even growth becomes part of the story.
Even improvement becomes part of the i-dentity.
And with that…
there’s still something to protect.
Something to maintain.
Something that can feel better or worse.
So the question isn’t whether the story is good or bad.
It’s much simpler than that.
What happens when everything revolves around “i”?
Because even the most refined version of “i”
is still something being held onto.
Not wrong.
Just… something that carries weight.
What if, even briefly,
that didn’t need to be the center?
Not removing it.
Not denying it.
Just not organizing everything around it.
In those moments, something shifts.
There’s less pressure to become something.
Less need to defend or improve.
And what remains isn’t a better version of “i,”
but something quieter.
A kind of openness.
A sense of being that isn’t defined in the same way.
And within that…
there can be a feeling of ease.
A kind of connection that isn’t based on i-dentity,
comparison, or progress.
Something that could be called Love,
not as something personal,
but as something not centered around “me,” but beyond “me.”💕
If you feel drawn, I’ve been sharing a few short guided reflections here:
dougandlinda.ca
