"Edit your life frequently and ruthlessly. It is your masterpiece after all." -Lindsay McComb
Recently I listened to a TedTalk where the presenter indicated that we are all the editors of our own lives, and I can't unhear that. I have subscribed for a long time about being the architect of my own life, probably because I have been an acolyte of Oprah, Deepak Chopra and other leaders in the self-help space for years. For a time, when I was younger and unencumbered, that line of thinking made complete sense.
Now, I feel differently.
I have some years under my belt, and I have lived. I have encountered people who have done me wrong, killed my dog and taken my man, I have other thoughts. OK, I may have thought I was writing a country music song there. So, let's steer back to the main point. And, for the record, I have never owned a dog!
Seriously, when other people attempt to destroy the life you have designed and constructed, calling yourself the "architect of your own life" feels somewhat inauthentic and begs some questions. One is, what is the purpose of that effort if the big bad wolf can blow your house down like he did to the three little pigs? How do you retain a sense of control when someone else can exploit your kindness and take complete advantage of your trust? And, how do you retain your confidence when you trusted someone who betrayed you?
Being the editor of your life is a position of power!
Calling myself an architect under these circumstances made me feel like I needed to return to college to learn how to perfect my craft. I felt like a fraud. Hating that feeling, I needed to find a new way to define myself.
I now refer to myself as the editor of my life.
When. i was introduced to the concept of being the editor of my life, I became encouraged. Being an editor suggests that some of the content was prepared and/or influenced by others. However, I had the opportunity to modify it how I saw fit. Indeed, I had the ability to delete the painful and unpleasant parts. I had the opportunity to deemphasize the parts that had been focal points in prior drafts and reduce them to mere footnotes. I could show the evolution of a character believed to be a hero who proved to be a villain.
Indeed, instead of living a life I didn't like, I could transform it into the one of my dreams...
If you have been following me for a while you know that I have lived various dreams. Right now I am in a period of transformation. The one thing I know for sure is that I am printing out this latest draft, pulling out my red pen and my highlighter and being brutally honest about what it looks like. Moving forward, the my story will play out differently. However, I believe it will be the best most spectacular dream yet.
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