DAY 13: 9/11 A Shattered Identity

Eleven years ago on 9/11 our American identity was shattered with the unexpected attacks aimed at the twin towers. We were forever changed. We would fear the "unknown." We would fear for our lives and the lives of others. We would hesitate to board a plane again. We would never be the same again, as a people and as a country. 

Eleven years ago I was not living in NYC but today I am and with that I must say that I understand the wound a little more...This city is humanity: exposed, vulnerable and out there...we live together, we ride subway cars together, we breath the same air, we walk down the same blocks, we stare at the same twinkling lights. Yesterday, as I looked up into the sky and saw airplanes flying overhead, I gasped a little, for fear that the same nightmare would happen all over again. 

I have not written for a week and there is a reason for it...I've thought about giving up on my venture of business building and financial change. The past 12 months have literally been hell, everything I thought I knew turned out to be something else. With each blow, rejection letter, failed relationship, career set back, my self esteem and identity shattered just a little more until I found myself broke on the ground. And as I pursue this new direction of becoming what I want to become, to seeking true happiness, financial prosperity and career satisfaction, I look back on the past and gasp. I see all the shattered pieces and think, I can't do this! I can't repeat the same nightmare! 

After 9/11 our country turned into a defensive bubble aimed at the "unknown terrorist," it became a place with "red alerts" and raised eyebrows at anybody who looked Middle Eastern. Fear escalated and so did control!!! OUR IDENTITY HAD BEEN SHATTERED AND WE WERE TRYING TO HOLD ONTO THE BROKEN PIECES! 

It is in times of destruction that our true nature is called forth and beckons us. WHEN WE SEE OURSELVES BROKE ON THE FLOOR WE MUST FACE OUR OWN HUMANITY.

We look down into the precipice of death and ask ourselves, "Why am I here? What is truly meaningful? Who am I ? Have I helped the world in some way?" When all that we know is lost, we latch onto control, familiarity and fear, hoping to turn back the clock. But time can not be reversed, we can not prepare for the unexpected, we can not re-do the past, we can only accept the present moment and move forward. 

WE MUST LOOK AT THE SHATTERED PIECES AND SAY GOODBYE! 

"One can experience an unconditional affirmation of life only when one has accepted death, not as contrary to life but as an aspect of life. Life in its becoming is always shedding death, and on the point of death. The conquest of fear yields the courage of life. That is the cardinal imitation of every heroic adventure--fearlessness and achievement." - Joseph Campbell 

"If you want release, you must affirm and not deny your suffering in your life and through it you can become a noble creature." [paraphrase] - Joseph Campbell 

THE IDENTITY WE HAD BEFORE IS NO MORE! We shed our old layer of skin and find our new selves among the broken pieces and pink, exposed flesh. WE DIE TO OURSELVES TO FIND OUR NEW SELVES!  STRONGER and FREE! FEARLESS and BRAVE! 

THE PAST IS OVER! THE NIGHTMARE HAS GONE. NEW DREAMS LIE IN WAIT.

"We have not even to risk the adventure alone, for the heroes of time have gone before us. The labyrinth is thoroughly know. We have only to follow the thread of hero path, and where we had thought to find an abomination we shall find a god. And where we had thought to slay another, we shall slay ourselves. Where we had thought to travel outward, we will come to the center of our own existence. And where we had thought to be alone, we will be with the world." -  Joseph Campbell

To those who lost their lives.

To those remaining.

To a new future.

ERIC THAYER/AP

The Tribute in Light spotlights aimed heavenward as a reminder of the fallen Twin Towers, illuminated the city on the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/tribute-light-installation-illuminates-new-york-city-pays-tribute-9-11-victims-article-1.1157368#ixzz26HP904iZ

Day 12: The Final Frontier

It has been a week since I have written and much has happened. My business is officially open and launched.

• Articles of Incorporation - check
• Business Plan - check
• Checking Account - check
• Website Up - check 
• Marketing Strategy - check 

The last seven days have been fraught with emotions...from excitement, anxiety, dread, fear, joy and anticipation. I have pulled 12 hour days, I have cried tears of fear, I have avoided opening up a bank account and I have worked with bated breath. This journey of starting a business and being financially free is definitely not what I expected; in many ways it is easier than I anticipated. I feel like all the crappy jobs, temp jobs, mediocre jobs and side jobs have taught me how to run a business. Only until now have I come to realize that my humble background as a executive assistant has prepared me for this moment. So how easy is it to start your own business or go after a dream? It's as easy as making the bed, people have been doing it for years!

But be forewarned that pursuing a dream or opening a business is also challenging and requires a great deal of COURAGE and VULNERABILITY. I imagine it is like going into outer space, black and unknown, you can't see the horizon just emptiness and in that emptiness lies the birth of possibility. 

Space Business: The final frontier
These are the voyages of the Starship, Enterprise  Whitney
Its  Her 5 year mission
To explore strange new worlds
To seek out new life and new civilizations  financial freedoms
To boldly go where no (wo)man has gone before *Star Trek

FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN is one of the first challenges people have to face when they chase after their dreams. Being an entrepreneur means that you no longer operate under the comfortable structure of a corporate entity. Above all it means CHANGE and with change arises anxiety. Giving up something familiar can be challenging at first, especially when it gives us comfort. 

Last week, I had to give up my FEAR OF FINANCIAL SUCCESS. I've lived my whole life getting by: paying the bills, having a little left over for a drink and maybe a used pair of sunglasses, no health insurance, no savings, and a tiny portion for miscellaneous expenses. Who wants to live like that? Apparently me, I have only known the "getting by" way of life and deep down I'm afraid to live a "financially successful" way of life. This became evident to me when I found the simple task of opening my business bank account daunting...I avoided it for 3 days! And I kept wandering why??? 

What was I so afraid of? 

CHANGE! THE UNKNOWN! Meth addicts love their drugs even though they know it's killing them. When they are offered an opportunity for a new life, they're terrified...because all they have known is meth. (I've been watching a lot of "Intervention" lately) I don't want to be like a Meth addict, killing my financial self and sabotaging all my dreams. I WANT TO BE POWERFUL INSTEAD OF POWERLESS. Therefore, I must make choices that are going to make me powerful. How do I do this? FACE THE UNKNOWN and DO IT BRAVELY & BOLDLY! 

So I mustered the courage and walked into the bank and opened my new business checking account. In doing this simple task, I developed a relationship with a bank manager and learn all sorts of things about banking; I must say that I am a better adult and entrepreneur for it! But it wasn't all roses...I had to answer an array of questions about my financial history and the truth is it was kinda of embarrassing. FACING THE MUSIC CAN BE DIFFICULT BUT IT MUST BE DONE IN ORDER TO MOVE FORWARD. There I was confessing all of my spending habits, business intentions, credit score, income and projected deposits, etc... I HAD TO FACE THE CROUCHING DRAGON AND HIDDEN TIGER in my life and in turn I BECAME POWERFUL!

Leaving the familiar can be difficult at times and confessing our frailties can be even more daunting but WE MUST FACE OURSELVES IN ORDER TO SAVE OURSELVES. And in doing this we develop SELF TRUST and RESILIENCE, the two components that are essential to survival in the unknown frontier. 

I leave you with this, an inspiring poem from a man who faced the unknown with an astounding amount of resilience and belief.


Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul. 

By, Invictus

Please visit my company website at: www.fairydustphotos.com   and show your support by LIKING the business Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/fairydustphotos