Gaining aspect

Aspect, as described in my last entry, is one of those things that we find hard to define, but we know when we see it. It's that quality that turns people like us into people like Einstein and Mother Teresa and Gandhi and Audie Murphy-- not the greatness, but the sovereignty over a particular area which gave them that greatness in the first place. (And if you don't know who Audie Murphy was, go look him up. Seriously.) We fumble our way toward a definition of that quality with approximations like "honor" or "devotion", or we try to force on it some self-help phrase like "living into our purpose", but that doesn't begin to describe it. Take the farthest limit of human ability, and square it. That's mastery. Take the limit of mastery and square it. That's aspect.

As hard as it is to describe, it's even harder to achieve. Whole books have been written about to think like Einstein or pray like Mother Teresa, but following them doesn't even bring us close. The defining process of aspect is intuitive rather than linear, and intuition is notoriously hard to replicate. The directions fail us because all the concrete instructions in the world cannot tell us how to make an intuitive leap, and all the airy descriptions of intuition leave us nowhere concrete to plant our feet for the jump. We feel even worse when we ask those with fully-realized aspects how they got there: those people tend either to cite some sort of divine intervention, or to see their journey as a fairly obvious progression given their own natures. Whereas our prayers don't seem to have provided much in the way of inspiration, our own natures aren't leading us anywhere even close to genius, and we don't want to hear any more platitudes about our "best of self" being just as good and worthy as the best of the great ones' selves.

Fair enough. Let's see if I can make this concrete enough for the rubber to meet the road, and possibly gain some ground.

1) Everyone, and I mean absolutely everyone who is capable of basic reason, has the potential to manifest aspect.

2) Aspect develops from some basic trait that you already possess, and already have some knowledge of using. Even if you couldn't pick the relevant trait out of all the others. Even if you don't feel self-empowered enough to use it properly. Even if you couldn't name a single positive trait about yourself if you tried. You have one. It's in there. Trust me on this one.

3) If you have no idea what your traits are, get a couple of close friends and ask them. And don't discount what they say just because they're your friends and they "have to" say that, or because you think the traits they mention aren't spiffy enough (see #6).

4) If anyone's ever told you that you have a gift for something, consider that a clue. Especially if you really didn't see what all the fuss was about. One caveat-- if it's something that you absolutely, positively, cannot stand, stop doing it and start looking elsewhere.

5) Aspect is not fame, fortune, or glory. You may not get any applause for attaining it. You may not get true love, financial success, or less stress-- or any of those other traits that we've been taught to expect as rewards for "getting it right". If you'd still do whatever-it-is anyway for its own sake, and something in it seems inherently "more" to you-- even if you don't know what or why-- consider that another clue. The irony is that once you do manifest your aspect, you'll probably be doing incredible things on a regular basis, and wondering what all the fuss is about.

6) The process will transform both the trait and you. So if you sometimes want to scream because your trait seems to be something fairly obvious-- like compassion, for instance-- and you were really hoping for something spiffier, don't panic. In the book On a Pale Horse (see previous blog entry), compassion was exactly the trait that got a complete loser like Zane chosen to be the new Death, and he went on to prevail against the Devil himself. And no, he didn't do it by "sympathizing" him into submission. The trait you start with is not necessarily the aspect you're going to end up with, and you will have the opportunity to grow into it (see #8).

7) A lot of the process is circumstance, dumb luck, outside influence, etc. It's your response to those prompts which will change your trait into your aspect. This is the part where the road map breaks down and your moral compass becomes necessary. Use it early. Use it often.

8) Your ATtention and your INtention are both required. If you find yourself letting important things slide or shoving them aside so you don't have to deal with them, that's one of those decision points. If you find yourself wondering "what's the use?", that's another decision point. If you find yourself rationalizing away a particular action or behavior, or find yourself justifying the reasons that it's really not a problem-- decision point. If you feel trapped by circumstances or forced toward a decision that you really don't feel comfortable with-- MAJOR decision point. And please do be honest about the reasons for your actions and decisions. Doing the right thing for the wrong reasons will eventually lead you down, not up.

9) Don't personalize the obstacles. They aren't a secret sign that the universe or the devil is out to stop you, that you're being tested to see if you're really willing to go the distance, or that you're close to beating Level 35 and winning all the dragon's treasure. Stuff happens. See #7 & #8 for a quick guide on what to do when stuff happens.

These are guidelines, not hard-and-fast rules. They're not comprehensive-- partly because I'm still exploring the process myself, and partly because it's going to be a little bit different for every person who tries it. They're also not guaranteed to develop aspect if you follow them. But they will help you navigate the road a little more easily, and at the very least, they'll help you to get through your daily grind with your identity, humanity, and integrity intact. And you never know-- one of those ordinary moments may provide you with just enough ground to plant your feet and take that first leap.