Under The Sheets With Me…

 Got your attention, didn’t I?

No no.. this isn’t a sexual expose.  It’s about my recent desire to crawl back into bed, and stay there,  and what  happened when I tried…

Enlightenment is SUCH a bother!

Anyway….

Recently, MindTweaks has been treading on far more personal territory than expected. This, in turn, has lead to the inevitable: a mild relapse of my suffering from privaticus neuroticus.  (Actually, I think I’ve had a touch of a simple flu, but privaticus neuroticus is so much more exotic sounding, don’t you think?)

For those of you who  aren’t in the know… privaticus neuroticus is the not-so-scientific term for my obsessive near-anonymity. It’s tragic. Really.

After consulting WebMD, Wikipedia, and the Oracular Coffee Grounds (Did you know coffee may help delay dementia in women?) I adopted the most advanced course of home-treatment available: I crawled into bed, pulled the covers up over my head, and pretended none of you existed.  

It didn’t work very well.

Not only are you loyal readers still here, but there’s a bunch of NEW folks, thanks to my lazy little fill-in-the-blog-gaps participation in the Personal Development Blog List.

My time under the covers wasn’t a total loss, though.  The silent, quietly breathing darkness allowed me to reflect on recent entries, interactions, and where-it’s-all-going. 

A few insights popped up, and I thought I’d share.

Ahem.___________________ 

When MindTweaks started, I intended it to be fairly impersonal, topic-wise:  Reviews, commentary, opinions and that sort of thing. All done in my personal voice, of course, but I didn’t plan to write all that much about my personal struggles and stories, other than as occasionally amusing illustrations.

 Somewhere along the line, things shifted. Things got personal.

In part, it was  a response to readers.  Invariably, you seem to relate best to posts about, well… me.   This flies in the face of what blogging experts say (they keep telling me to write about you) but, what do they know? Blogging is still at the toddler stage, and the rules of success change daily.

But mostly, the shift to a more personal form of personal-development came from my own needs.  I needed a forum to work out my own ideas. I work best in words, where there is an element of interaction, and the chance to earn praise seem smart show off get feedback, and this blog became that forum.  It’s not a perfect solution, but… it’s working.

Still, I didn’t want to write a “personal” blog. MindTweaks was supposed to be a layman’s views of mind/brain gadgets, neuroscience and practical tips on better-ways-to-use-the-brain. I had a target audience in mind, an audience who wanted to learn to improve *their* mental function - not mine.  And I’d expected this to be a money-making proposition, not a self-indulgent hobby.

And so …

I Consulted The Coffee Ground Oracle _________

 Ok, I don’t actually read coffee grounds.  Not even special, hypercaffienated psychic coffee grounds. (Though if you know where I can get psychic coffee, would please let me know?)

I had a normal, ordinary, non-psychic flash of *remembering*. 

What I remembered was this:

Twice in my life, I’ve managed to significantly influence the thoughts of large groups of people.  I opened minds, encouraged critical thought, stood up for the silent minorities, bridged diverse views, found words for things there were no words for, and… well.. changed things.

But I didn’t set out to change things.

I’d set out to learn about issues, thoughts and ideas that interested me. I set out to solve my own problems.  I set out looking for help, and info, and guidance.

But I’m a different sort of girl (if you haven’t noticed) and my problems are not… well… typical.  Solutions to my issues don’t often turn up on Oprah, the cover of Cosmo, or on the best seller-list at Amazon.

When I didn’t find what I was looking for, I made my own path, lighting it as I went.  I fought for answers and ideas and solutions. I argued with people, I demanded attention, and I refused to back down.

A big part of the process was helping others, with similar issues.  Their personal challenges inspired new thoughts, and as I struggled to find answers to their questions, the path became gradually more defined.  Another part of the process was answering critics, questioning my own assumptions, and defending (and adapting) my views. And a third was bringing together diverse views and perspectives, resolving their conflicts, and my own.

It worked.

It worked for me. It worked for others.

Meanwhile, back at the blog______

I didn’t have any of this in mind when I chose the tagline for MindTweaks. ”Fixing the world, one mind at a time” was just a quick, flip, filler sort of tagline.  I decided that sounded a bit arrogant, so I tacked on “(starting with mine)” and planned to replace it with something better, later on.

I didn’t consciously realize that my greatest successes in life had come about entirely in that way… fixing other people, by finding ways to fix myself.  

I certainly didn’t set out with this approach in mind, for this blog. But these past few weeks, I’ve seen it start to come together.  I’ve seen it in the comments, I’ve seen it in my writing, I’ve seen it in results, and the questions I’m being asked, and…

Well…  I guess things will stay a bit personal around here, if you’re willing to put up with it.  And hopefully I’ll find a way to recapture my original goals, as well… paying the bills is a worthy endeavor, after all. 

__________________________________

MindTWEAK:  Income seldom exceeds personal development 
                                 - Jim Rohn __________________________________