Barbara Harris Whitfield - Nobody Special as a Doorway to Creativity

While writing the book The Power of Humility, we realized that humility can be broken down into characteristics and so we wrote about 12. They are 1) openness, 2) an attitude of “don’t know,” 3) curiosity, 4) innocence, 5) a child-like nature, 6) spontaneity, 7) spirituality, 8) tolerance, 9) patience, 10) integrity, 11) detachment, and 12) letting go – all of which lead to inner peace and what we called Level 3 – Co-Creation. In this level of functioning, our creativity is free flowing.

What happened next in our writing process truly surprised us. There were two more principles of humility that came through – not intellectually like the ones above – but in a creative way that is Level 3. These principles are gratitude and being “nobody special.” I knew about gratitude but being “nobody special” surprised me and I had to search my own soul ( battle my ego) and find other avenues to convince me to write about it.

Being “Nobody Special”
In the process of humility we work through a cycle early in our life from becoming ego-attached or “somebody special,” to then becoming ego-detached or “nobody special.” It is in that “nobody special-ness” that we can be anybody. The fatigue, the neurosis, the anxiety, the fear, all come from identifying with the somebody-ness. But you have to start somewhere. It does seem that you have to be somebody before you can be nobody. If you started out being nobody at the beginning of this incarnation, you probably wouldn’t have made it this far… It’s that force of somebody-ness that develops the social and physical survival mechanisms. It’s only now, having evolved to this point, that we learn to put that somebody-ness, that whole survival kit, which we called the ego, into perspective.

“At first you really ‘think’ you’ve lost something. It’s a while before you can appreciate the peace that comes from the simplicity of no-mind, of just emptiness, of not having to be somebody all the time. For when you become nobody there is no tension, no pretense, no one trying to be anyone or anything, and the natural state of the mind shines through unobstructed – the natural state of the mind is pure love, … pure awareness… You’ve cleared away all of the mind trips that kept you being who you thought you were.” (Whitfield et al, 2006)

In a society where everybody has to be somebody special, what a joy it can be to walk along and be nobody special. It is freeing, peaceful and serene. We learn to listen and hear. And where we are when we are nobody special is in the heart of our True Self (or Soul.) Our True Self is the source of our creative abilities. It taps into the depth of our best creative writing by tapping into the energy of what some call “Our Higher Self,” Atman, guardian angel, Christ Consciousness, Ruach ha Kodosh, Buddha Nature, etc.

Our ego wants us to be special. Our ego also is the seat of writer’s block. Our True Self flows with our creative process as long as we keep reminding our ego that we are nobody special. The following is a table showing the roles we play in the three levels. Notice the first two levels have roles that are static nouns. They are set. We are or we believe we are in a box. At Level 3 the roles are represented by words that convey action because we are now flowing with our reality.

Barbara Harris Whitfield is the author of five books and numerous articles on the near-death experience and natural spirituality. She is a near-death experiencer and respiratory and massage therapist. She spent six years at the University of Connecticut Medical School researching the psychological, emotional, and energetic after effects of spiritual awakenings and recently retired from teaching at Rutger’s Institute for Alcohol and Drug Studies. Barbara lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her husband, author and physician Charles Whitfield, MD. They share a private practice helping adults that were repeatedly traumatized as children. Barbara’s new book, The Natural Soul, will be coming out in 2009 with SterlingHouse Publisher. For more information go to http://www.cbwhit.com and http://www.barbarawhitfield.com