Status Update from a Self-Proclaimed Self-Help Guru
ORIGIN COLUMNIST: ANDREA MARCUM
Doug went through a very expensive program to become a “spiritual counselor.” To afford it, his wife (already a model) took on five jobs including cleaning foreclosed houses that had been trashed by their former occupants. She’d apply her make-up for auditions in her car, scrape the dirt out from under her nails, and since she was still breastfeeding, make sure she wasn’t leaking. Then she’d try to seduce the camera and book a commercial. When he graduated, Doug was very impressed with his spiritual credentials. He wore them every day to Starbucks where he purchased overpriced coffee, using the unemployment checks he felt entitled to keep receiving instead of looking for work. He spent his days posting endless, borrowed “love is all there is” and “abundance” quotes on the social networks and gazing at the Spiritual Counselor website he was building himself.
PHOTO: GUY SHALEM
Like Narcissus, he became enraptured by his own image. When I suggested volunteering to counsel troubled teens, or work a hotline to console people so that he could gain some actual experience in his field, he scoffed. Clearly I didn’t believe in the abundance as he did. There are examples of contemplative epiphanies in most religious traditions. Christ in the desert, Buddha under the Bodhi Tree, Muhammad and Moses on their mountains. These epiphanies ultimately led to a deeper truth. None claim to have been accomplished in a few easy steps; all involved imperfect people taking honest action. They indicate change that is more earned and profound than the increasingly instant, superficial fare we seem to be developing a taste for. All of us hold the power to transform our lives, ourselves and our planet. But effervescent, feel-good catch phrases and waiting around for abundance to show up are not going to be enough to get us there. However, when we apply this positivity to something progressive and genuine, we move from self-proclaimed, Self-Help Gurus to people out in the world inspiring real change. How can any of us “be the change we want to see in the world” when all we’re really changing is our status update and our seat at Starbucks?
“All of us hold the power to transform our lives, ourselves and our planet. But effervescent, feelgood catch phrases and waiting around for abundance to show up are not going to be enough to get us there.”
Originally from Santa Cruz, California, Andrea Marcum proudly opened U Studio in Los Angeles in 2006. She has been featured in the Huffington Post, C Magazine, Self, LA Times, PopSugar and more. Her articles have appeared in JetWings Magazine, Lululemon’s Official Blog, Elephant Journal, MindBodyGreen, Gaiam Life and others. www. ustudioyoga.com originmagazine.com | 53