Sing your song.

I’d like to share a little bit of the history of the byteful project, where it is now, and where it is headed. This article is as much for me as it is for you.

Once Upon A Prayer

A certain woman prayed for me once, and she told me many things about myself – things that she couldn’t know. One of the things she told me stood out in my mind above everything else. She told me that there was something urgent that the Creator had “put on my heart” and that it was “urgent”. At the time, I had a number of projects that I was in the middle of, but I was completely clueless as to what her words could mean – at first. As I ruminated on this idea of urgency, I realized that in the back of my mind there was a project that I had been subconsciously procrastinating about.

To be completely honest, I planned to launch a site as early as May 2006, but I let it slip. Back then I wasn’t committed to this project and merely entertained it as “something I’ll get to.” As you can probably guess, “something I’ll get to” almost always equals procrastination. Today, I would have written the goal down and added it to my list of projects. Of course, I didn’t have a project list back then, but today I do because of what I’ve learned from a book called Getting Things Done by David Allen, but the discussion of that book and the principals found in it is for another article altogether. Because I didn’t lay out a specific attack plan, I had trouble even deciding on a name and wrestled with choosing good name for months. Then in October, I began to more consciously pursue a suitable name: I joined the Wordlab forum.

And then this woman prays for me, and I’m clueless – at first. After a few days, the idea of what it really could mean dawned on me. I realized that I was being nudged, that this website I been putting off for months (years?) could become really important in my life, pivotal in fact. So I put out intentions for help, and the universe in it’s infinite reflectivity began to echo a response. You may laugh, but I even got a fortune cookie that said “You will conquer obstacles to achieve success.” Now, I’ve had many a fortune cookie in my day, but never anything about success or anything so applicable to my situation. I took the cookie as a small sign that things were beginning to shift – soon I would begin making a dent.

I want to put a dent in the universe. ~ Steve Jobs

Taking Action

Even more important than outward signs, I began to take serious action inwardly. Encouraged by the yearning in my heart for an outlet to my creativity, the woman’s words, and yes, even the cookie, I joined the Wordlab naming forum, confident that the naming geniuses would impart some wisdom.

Now, the odd part is that the forum didn’t help me in the way I anticipated it would. It helped me in a more introspective way. While I valued every naming suggestion I received, a part of me, call it gut, intuition, or even a spirit thing, knew that none of the suggested names were quite right. Instead of having the perfect name fall into my lap (as if that ever happens), it happened that the forum merely acted as a vehicle for my subconscious mind to deliver a good name into my conscious awareness. If that sounds strange to you, in laymen’s terms it means I used the forum as a sounding board for my ideas, and it worked. The first time I typed the word “byteful” I didn’t think much of it, but over time it revealed itself to be more and more appropriate name, as well as a versatile adjective.

On the 17th of November, I committed to that name and bought byteful.com. At last, I decided to go for it, and it felt wonderful. Later that day, I even felt inspired to write a short poem in my journal about the decision. Then I went out and did absolutely nothing website-related for about two months. The domain was basically useless, just a parked page, for over sixty days. Why?

Refocusing Time

Knowing what I know now, I wouldn’t have basically wasted two months of my registered time. The problem was I didn’t have a set plan on what to do after I bought the domain, and I wasn’t yet prepared for The Great Host Search. Only when I refocused my objectives in January did I begin to put my attention towards finding the right web host for my needs. Once I secured a reliable web host, things began to get interesting, and the byteful project was born.

Sometimes, procrastination manifests itself from fear of success. If anything I create is seen as valuable to others, I have to “show up” in some capacity and be responsible for it. Over the past months, I’ve been coming to terms with what this means. As with any creative endeavor, there is a fear of making “mistakes”, but I think we both know that the only true mistake would be missing the opportunity to learn in the first place.

I’m reminded of a quote by Marianne Williamson:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we’re liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

~ Marianne Williamson

There Are No Limits

Beyond everything, it becomes more and more clear to me that providing valuable, timeless, digital content is one of the reasons I am on this planet. The fear of success is a reality for me because of what success might mean. Imagine an income stream uncoupled from time, and a desire to contribute uncoupled from locality. With that kind of freedom, life would be more like a dream I create day to day. With that kind of freedom, I would have the flexibility to travel to other lands and document my travels in great detail. With that kind of freedom, imagine what I opportunities I could seize.

I realize that I’m not really pushing reality’s limits; I’m only pushing back my own self-imposed limits. This is a process that everyone must go through when they want to make a big change in their life. Are there really any limits outside of your mind? The ancient Hawaiians had a principal called Kala that states: “There are no limits.” Right now, you may think there are limits outside of yourself, but I encourage you to ponder the possibility that there are none. As for me, I realize that there is a point that every person must reach as they decide to take complete responsibility for their life and begin to follow their true purpose. As Marianne said, every time you embrace who you truly are, it helps others do the same. But I’ve learned that it’s important to realize that you must imagine yourself there first, you have to feel it. Everything you’ve ever created, every experience, every object, every relationship, started in your imagination first. So dream big, feel it, and choose to pursue it. Only when you make the choice to begin to live big and follow your purpose will you realize that the Creator has had your back all along.

This website was created for a reason, and it wasn’t because of a fortune cookie.

You can begin right now to feel healthy. You can begin to feel prosperous. You can begin to feel the love that’s surrounding you, even if it’s not there. And what will happen is the Universe will correspond to the nature of your song.

~ Rev. Dr. Michael Beckwith

Enjoy the song.
I exist to share.