I’m Rachel Dickson: TEDx speaker, storyteller, and truth-teller exploring what it means to return to your truest self. This is a space for healing, authenticity, and the bold inner work of choosing yourself, unapologetically.
On art, honesty, and finding what’s real beneath the surface—Field Notes with Rachel Dickson
|
10/23/25 Hey there, quiet alchemists, truth-tenders, and rememberers of what matters! quintessenceThis fascinating term dropped back into my orbit this week. I love being reminded of things I once deeply pondered and now carry within my being. And when I’m reminded of them...is like a spark or a bolt of lighting...a reverberating AHAH moment! This word comes from the Latin words quinta essentia. Quinta being “fifth” and Essentia being “essence”. But what is quintessence? “Ancient and Medieval Philosophy: the fifth essence, of which the heavenly bodies were thought to be made, distinguished from the four elements of fire, air, water, and earth; hence, the most pure essence or most perfect embodiment of a thing or being.”
As a lover of art...and now as a painter...I’ve pondered long and hard on what makes a good painting. What is the key factor? If you want to truly nail a painting of a songbird, you must—must—get the eyes right. If the eyes are dead the painting will be dead too...empty or void of the essence of the bird. The same holds true for any living thing...dogs, cats, birds, fish, people. The essence is in the eyes. Which brings me to why I’m writing this today. It circles back to a question I’ve been asking myself for quite some time: What truly matters? I believe the answer lives at the very center of discovering the quintessence. According to the dictionary, quintessence means:
When we boil life down to its central core—to what remains after all the fluff, all the noise, all the bullshit, all the fool’s-gold distractions have burned away—that’s where what truly matters lives. Self-honesty is essential in finding that center of what matters. So is noticing where we place our value. “If you want to know truly what you idolize, what you are committed to, what you most deeply believe, merely look at what you’re doing with your time—and how you feel about it, truthfully.”
— from The Book of Mastery (Book Three)
These are the keys to unlocking our greater selves. As we walk the path back to our own knowing..and then bring it forth and live from within our own quintessence. This is how we learn to identify the time-wasters, the fool’s-gold attention-snatchers, and refocus our energy on what is truly valuable… what is worthy of our life force. This is the way. 🔥 Wild-Heart Practice of the Week:"The Burn-Away Practice" Write down everything that’s been demanding your attention lately—big or small. Let honesty be your matchstick. 🎶 Something for the Path Here’s a powerful poetry reading that reminds us to start where we stand. https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3idBQIB1FB/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link How about a little virtual high-five? Field Notes is a weekly dispatch. If this note resonated, feel free to forward it to someone who might need this reminder. Until next time, P.S. Thank you for being here. Thank you for walking this steady path back to our hearts with me. You can find Rachel's Tedx Talk that ultimately led to the creation of these Field Notes at www.RachelDickson.com |
Rachel Dickson
I’m Rachel Dickson: TEDx speaker, storyteller, and truth-teller exploring what it means to return to your truest self. This is a space for healing, authenticity, and the bold inner work of choosing yourself, unapologetically.
10/17/25 Greetings, brave feelers and quiet seekers….travelers of both the outer world and the inner one. If you were to go to my blog and read the entry I wrote on September 8th, 2024 here is what you would find…. Change Working in the outdoors I've had the pleasure of being witness to change each and every day. How the light hits the river water in the morning, the sounds of insects and birds and the rippling water over rocks. It's easy to notice change when you're in awareness of your...
10/01/25 Greetings, fellow wanderers, wild-idea dreamers, meaning makers, and seekers of clarity, courage, and quiet joy! I see you. Because I am you… and you are me. “Wherever we insist on pushing our differences on others, we feel separation. We name this separation resistance, laziness, loneliness, depression, anxiety, or some kind of lack in ourselves. Then we claim these as ‘who we are’—I am resistant, I am lazy, I am lonely, I am anxious, I am stupid, I am unappreciated, I am unworthy,...
9/25/25 Greetings, fellow wanderers, wild-idea dreamers, and seekers of clarity, courage, and quiet joy! “What are you cultivating? What are we nurturing in our life? What are we giving our energy, resources, and attention to? Because whatever we are experiencing now is what we have been cultivating up until now.” (excerpt from The Zero Point Agreement—How to be who you already are by Julie Tallard Johnson) This shifts the narrative, doesn’t it? It brings the focus home and shines light on...