charisma

so much has been going on, i'm catching up. i did two full days of public speaking boot camp on monday and tuesday. i went in wondering what i'd learn, with kind of a "show me" attitude. i've done some public speaking, but not a lot. i'd like to get better at it.

by the end, i felt like it was definitely a learnable skill that i could practice. so now i'm looking for a toastmasters group to join and practice with.

one thing the teacher said that stayed with me is that i have charisma and can learn to trust it.

whew! i'm not sure what he saw in me to say that. i don't feel like i have charisma. barack obama has charisma. i know that sometimes i'm "on". present, grounded, capable, conneced to the source. maybe that was what he was picking up on. i think it must have to do with having done yoga for 10 years. yoga is good for my energy. i'm teaching kj some yoga that she can take with her.

keith pointed out that hitler had considerable charisma. so that's something to keep in mind--you can use it for various purposes. hitler was trying to build up the german people, who suffered greatly after losing in world war I. in his mind, he wasn't evil. he saw a need and filled it.

charisma is being congruent, putting yourself 100% on the line. JFK supposedly had it too. i was a child when he was president and paid more attention to his speech--"cuber" and that massachusetts accent, which was strange to my ears--and how much hair he had.

keith says i have a kind of stillness to my energy. that may not be putting it well. my energy is more quiet and powerful, is i guess what he's saying. i'd like to meet someone with that energy so i can know what he's talking about.

i think of charisma as being present, being able to influence people, being a leader. it can be dazzling, really giving attention, really being in the moment, thinking on one's feet, having good eye contact.

perhaps a presupposition of having charisma is that the universe is friendly. i've been working with that one. i recognize that i didn't believe it for much of my life, but that doesn't mean it's not true.

i like what tom best says about beliefs. try on the opposite and see which you like more. in this case, i like believing that the universe is basically friendly, and that what we human do has some positive intent.