NL Post #22. Who’s telling you what to feel?

Who’s Telling You What to Feel?

🔷 Curiosity

Why do so many of us give our power away? I keep coming back to that question. At what point do we stop exploring what we think, what excites us, and what we want to create—and start waiting for someone else to tell us?

As children, we’re often rewarded for following instructions and meeting expectations. There’s a place for guidance, but where’s the encouragement to question the script? Somewhere along the way, being accepted can become more important than being ourselves.

Then we grow up, and the voices giving us instructions get louder.

🔶 Permission

That’s where my frustration with mainstream media comes in. When you look at the coverage reaching you, how much leaves you feeling informed and capable of doing something meaningful? How much leaves you angry, afraid, or ready to argue with someone you’ve never met?

I want to see more stories that remind us of our humanity. People helping people. Something that inspires us to build, connect, or contribute. Difficult things deserve coverage, but I question the language that turns another person’s suffering into a spectacle or every disagreement into a battle.

We’re allowed to question the message before giving it authority over our emotions. We don’t need anyone’s permission to pause and ask, “What is this asking me to feel?”

🔷 Discovery

Once I start asking that, other questions follow. Who owns this platform? Who funds it? What’s being emphasized, and what context might be missing? Does the headline help me understand the story, or does it push me toward a reaction before I’ve even read it?

Those questions aren’t proof of some hidden agenda. They’re a starting point for paying attention. And they belong everywhere—including the voices I agree with and the stories that make my own beliefs feel comfortable.

I’m not saying every news organization is bad or every journalist has an ulterior motive. I’m asking why we sometimes examine a stranger’s opinion more carefully than a message delivered through a familiar screen. Questioning everything has to include questioning our own certainty.

🔶 Reflection

Then there’s the deeper question: who do I become when I let those messages shape my entire experience of the world?

Whatever language you use—God, creation, your higher self—consider the part of you that feels connected to something beyond the day’s conflict. Does living from that connection mean making yourself smaller? Does it mean surrendering your ability to choose how you respond?

I don’t believe reclaiming our power makes difficult circumstances disappear. But I do believe we can acknowledge those circumstances and still ask what’s ours to choose, express, or create within them. There’s room to care deeply without handing over our whole inner world.

🔷 Creation

For me, curiosity is the bridge back. It creates a pause between the story being offered and the story we choose to live. That’s where permission begins, and where the POD framework can become something we practice in everyday life.

This week, notice one message that pulls you toward an immediate reaction. Give yourself permission to pause, explore its context, and decide what response reflects the person you want to be.

Hit reply and tell me: where in your life are you ready to reclaim your authority?

Until next time—stay curious, Curiosity Creators.
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Author of Curiosity to Creation / Curiosity Creators
Justin Charles Allman
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Remember. Reclaim. Create.
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