The Self-Trust Revolution

More Thoughts on Reclaiming Our Personal Power, Even When It Feels Like We Have None

Prologue

As you may have noticed, I haven’t posted on Substack lately. You may have also noticed my requisite posts, announcing that my book, Word Magic, has been published (THANK YOU!) and a book launch has been planned. But beyond that, I’ve been trying to keep to myself.

After nine years of working on this book, the thought of having to actually talk about it and promote it made me want to drive a spear through my brain. Also, the world is on fire and “who cares about my book?”

The truth, of course, is that I care about my book, not the parts “I” wrote but the parts that came through me when I asked the Universe to help me transcribe whatever needs to be written. I wrote the book I needed and still need—and I continue to wrestle with the themes of this book every single day.

As my very wise and patient coach, Julia Stenzel, has helped me to see: if I struggle and find support in this book, maybe I can share that. Rather than performing the social media equivalent of a car commercial, maybe all I have to do is… be who I am.

“Who I am” (and I have to say this out loud to counter the inner critic who judges it) is not a world-renowned, sophisticated “expert,” not someone who is cool on social media, and certainly not someone who has mastered intuition—or any of the topics I wrote about. As I write about in my book, I am continually reframing my stories, just as I am continually learning to trust myself. Intuitively, I am almost always confused and self-doubting—until I write about it. Then it all becomes clear. That’s why I believe that we all are being guided, that in those moments when we can get out of our own way and put pen to paper, the guidance comes through.

With the earnest intention that something I share be of service, here’s how I processed my struggles through writing today:

An Application of Intuitive Writing

Today I am grieving the tragic loss of Renee Good, a fitting name for someone who did seem innately good and kind. She was a mother, a poet, and an empath, looking out for her neighbors—and she was forever silenced for it. Even more grim is the idea that, as New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg observed, the violence was intended as “a message,” a warning for the rest of us. While I didn’t expect to be living out the plot of 1984 in 2026, I have to believe there are ways for each of us to “meet this moment” authentically, ways to change its trajectory and write a better, more hopeful story.

For me, everything that’s going in the world right now on brings up the larger theme of our personal creative power—and whether or not we choose to claim it—even if it feels like we have none. As I mentioned in my book, there is nothing new in what is happening right now. If anything, it’s the oldest story in Western history, the story of fear-based people trying to quell their own fear by imposing their will on others. It is the perverse logic of the wounded child, particularly the playground bully, hoping to finally feel safe… if only everyone would just obey.

Historically, scared, wounded children have run the world. But that was before we had a global awareness of things like integrative psychology, collaborative leadership, and the transformative arts. That was before we realized we are the authors and protagonists of our own lives—the one’s who can and will change the story.

I think it’s a lot like lucid dreaming, which is when you become aware that you are dreaming inside the dream—and take back your power to change the outcome.

So… how do we meet this moment in a way that is authentic and meaningful for each of us?

This question reminds me of the wonderful book Dying to Be Me by Anita Moorjani, in which she survived a Near Death Experience to learn the power of self-love, that “we must love ourselves like our life depends upon it, because it does.” To love ourselves, by her definition, is to be true to ourselves, to be authentically ourselves.

In contemplating this—and how hard it can be—I have decided to call it radical authenticity, because it requires a radical faith in the idea of our radical oneness. In other words, it means trusting that when we do what’s true and aligned for us, we will be in harmony with the heart of the world.

I am also reminded of the quote by Albert Camus, that “The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.” And THIS brings me to what I write about on page 97 of Word Magic, describing what I call “The Self-Trust Revolution,” which is learning to trust yourself in a world that would rather you didn’t.

I believe self-trust is both the ultimate rebellion and the ultimate source of personal power, because it means trusting our own heart, our own light, our own authentic self-expression.

Now more than ever, I believe we must turn toward the light that lives inside of us, the light being what we love and anything that lights us up. Whatever fills your heart, whatever makes you feel more present, peaceful, or fully engaged, there’s your light.

Possible writing or pondering prompts

1. What do you love?
Start every line with, “I love…” and see if you can up with at least 30 things, both big and small, serious and silly, people and pets and activities and food and books and whatever comes up. When you finish, read your list out loud and circle the three “things” you love the most. Let them give you courage.

2. What lights you up?

Even if you feel disconnected from the light inside of you, see if you can remember the last time you felt truly lit up, engaged, or at peace? What were you doing? What was going on inside of you? Write about it. (For me it is writing, so it doesn’t have to be anything epic or glamorous.) Describe it in great sensory detail.

Next, ask yourself, what you can do to recreate the conditions of that moment in some small way today? Also consider, if you did what lights you up or brings you peace every day, what effect would that have on everyone around you? Is it possible that your love or peace could be shared with others, or that it might offer unspoken permission to others, to pursue their own peace?

I’ll end with the wisdom of the psychologist, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross who wrote:

“There are only two primary emotions, love and fear. But it’s more accurate to say that there is only love or fear, for we cannot feel these two emotions together, at exactly the same time. They’re opposites. If we’re in fear, we are not in a place of love. When we’re in a place of love, we cannot be in a place of fear.”

To come from a place of love will not change the fractured psychology of scared and miserable men. (If we’ve learned anything from tyrants, it’s that no one can or should control anyone else.) But we CAN affect the quality of the moment—and the story of the world.

Likewise, if all of us choose to authentically express our personal power, to align with what we love and what lights us up, I believe we will generate a collective light that WILL transform the darkness—as surely as the sunrise melts away the night.

Eckhart Tolle defines love as “the recognition of oneness.” I want to remember that. No matter how much they try to scare us, let’s choose to come from love instead.