Less I

^z 5th October 2023 at 7:29am

Hard not to say: "I like ...", or "I want ...", or "I did ...", or "I must ...". Who's the center of the universe, after all?

Worthwhile: constant awareness of first-person singular pronoun usage, and maybe avoidance of too much self. An "I", especially at the beginning of a sentence, is often a sign of excess ego.

Try: instead of "I like that picture!", consider "That picture is beautiful!" — or even more specific, why it's beautiful. Instead of "I ran this morning and saw five ...", consider, "During this morning's run, five ...".

Play the Unselfing Game: see how often no "I" is needed to tell the story. Let things be what they are, without a protagonist-hero-viewpoint.

(cf Unselfing (2009-01-14), Unselfing Again (2009-11-01), 2015-10-07 - Everybody But (2015-10-21), Mantra - It Is What It Is (2016-03-06), Mantra - As It Is (2016-06-18), Mantra - No Self (2016-10-25), Mantra - Unself Together (2018-03-30), ...) - ^z - 2018-05-26