In a lively exchange recently a beloved and erudite friend of mine who pays her rent by selling words threw out the phrase “full expression.” We had been talking about things like purpose and what’s next and rather than make an assumption I asked what that meant to her. Though I’ve revisited the conversation with her several times she has still not been able to craft its definition. It’s as if the phrase came to her full blown and like a koan its meaning, even to her, is elusive.
More recently I heard a story about what full expression is not. A long-married friend of a friend has let her husband design and decorate their home, inside and out because “he likes that kind of thing” and she “doesn’t care.” The tale came out during the woman’s visit to our mutual friend’s new home and she said of the eclectic furnishings, “I bet everything has a story” (it does). She went on to say that she had no idea how and with what items she would decorate a new living space and that’s when the rest of the story came out.
I’m pretty sure that full expression involves more than being in touch with your inner decorator. It seems to me that it is more than demonstrating or creating anything. Not contingent upon circumstance it is more about being fully present – no matter what.
What does it mean to you to live your life with Full Expression?
And how do you know when you are not?
Cosmic Gardener - Cultivating a Life 