So this essay/post is being written to introduce myself and in response to a request by @Rasheed Hooda, who asked that we share about living life on our own terms and about what our inner weirdo is. So first, for those of you who don’t know me, let me introduce myself. My name is George Benson. I am the youngest of nine kids, and I have been married to my wife, Jodell, since 1994. Together, we have been blessed to raise our two daughters, Antonia, who is a ministry intern, and Julia, who is a firefighter/paramedic. EMBRACING MY INNER WEIRDO Recently, after reading various posts by @Rasheed Hooda and @Matt Landry, I was struck by something Matt said that I had never heard someone say before. He said he was an empath. A word I have lived since I was six, and a word I had never heard another human use to describe themselves in over 50 years, except in books that I have read from authors writing about that specific topic. So what is an empath? An empath is someone who not only notices the emotions of others, but can often feel them deeply, as if they are their own. In fact, many empaths struggle with learning to distinguish what they are feeling and where it is coming from. For some empaths, they are very intuitive and are often very good at reading other people’s emotions and the micro-expressions that are presented by others through various physical characteristics, movements, or other body language. For other empaths, they pick up on the tone of a person’s voice, the specific words they use or don’t use, and the aura, sensations, or energy that is emanating from a person’s body. For some of you, you might not have heard of the word empath, but you might know people who you think are overly sensitive. In clinical terms, psychologists, counselors, or clinicians might refer to them as being an HSP, or a Highly Sensitive Person. For me, although we did not have the words to describe it at the time, I was raised to embrace being an empath, and I grew to develop a strong intuition and at times to experience things that, to this day, I have no words to explain. For those who are interested, I have written a book that I give away for free called Dancing Through the Storms of Life. In that book, I write in the third person about my life and the events that have shaped who I am today. So if you’re interested in learning more about my inner weirdo, feel free to click the link.

When a caterpillar goes into its chrysalis, it doesn’t just sprout wings and call it a day. It actually liquifies itself like, turns into a full-on gooey protein smoothie inside that tiny cocoon. Scientists call it complete metamorphosis, and it’s one of the most dramatic transformations in nature. Inside the chrysalis: The caterpillar’s old body breaks down into a nutrient-rich goo Special cells (called imaginal discs) survive the meltdown Those cells use the goo to build an entirely new body: wings, eyes, legs, antennae, the whole thing It’s basically nature’s version of: “Let me destroy everything I used to be so I can become something brand new.” 🦋 Now I am not saying we need to destroy ourselves completely in order to become someone new. But we do have to do that to our mindset and identity beliefs for it to actually happen. Opinions?