I have been feeling that something about the terminology of Service to Self and Service to Other felt slightly dissonant to me ever since I first came across and reflected on them.
I sense for one an undertone of affirming separation (self vs. other) and on the other hand a strong potential to feed the christian martyr programming (selflessness, sacrificing yourself for the other). Both of which to me are unhelpful distortions of this matrix maximizing polarity and duality to the point of losing our inherent oneness out of sight. These undertones might of course be owed to the distortions of my experiences and lifetimes.
I decided to go on differentiating the two approaches to life as Service to Self and Service to SELF.
Whereby “self” stands for the limited, conditioned egoic sense of self and “SELF” represents our eternal undying essence, the divine spark and fractal of the One Source in which we are one with all existence.
This way of differentiating the two paths has more integrity to me as it underscores the Law of One and sidesteps the trap of “othering” and separation or getting lost in the illusion of dualities as contrasts, as well as feeding the unloving conditionings of self abandonment and lack of self love and care.
Furthermore it resonates with a rooting in the foundational principles of Oneness and an understanding that all things having arisen from the One Source and will eventually merge back into the One Source.
When I chose a Service to SELF path I choose to live a life of caring for myself so I can show up everyday to serve all of existence to the best of my abilities and knowledge. To me that is more encompassing and resonant with a higher frequency of love than what the term Service to Other evokes in my mind, body, heart and spirit.
What do you think, sense and feel when reflecting on these terminologies?
What helps you come alive and shine your light brighter?
Whatever you call it I hope you choose a life of service to more than your egoic self, to your own benefit and the benefit of all!
