'Know Thyself' was one of the axioms of the Oracle of Delphi (there were dozens of them). It was described as . . . 'those who boast exceed who they are' and 'to not pay attention to the opinion of multitudes'.

The ancient myth of Narcissus tells us that as a punishment for rejecting anybody else's love he fell in love with himself when he saw his pretty face in a lake. Because this love naturally had to stay unfulfilled he finally starved himself to death.

Contemporary Narcissus would look at his 532 selfies flickring through the net and have one central thought while doing so: how do I look? And he wouldn't even see this as a punishment!  Every new selfie could be shared to the world wide selfie community who enthusiastically embraces every new selfie like they had never seen one before.

Maybe it even inspires them to become super-creative and take yet another selfie of themselves? So the Oracle Of Selfie may have replaced the one from Delphi by relentlessly sending out selfies around the world, wanting to be 'liked', 'followed' and 'commented' by hitherto unknown people.

Imagination - one of humanity's wondrous gifts - has been replaced by thousands of pictures taken without once looking at the object with our own eyes

Here we are then, the original quest pursued at the Oracle of Delphi 'Know Thyself'' has been replaced by 'Who am I, compared to others'. Just take a selfie, Elfie!  The Oracle of Selfie has replaced any self inquiry originally connected with its ancient predecessor. Will we starve ourselves to death - as Narcissus did – by drowning in a sea of meaningless comments on our moods and looks?

Imagination - one of humanity's wondrous gifts - has been replaced by thousands of pictures taken without once looking at the object with our own eyes. Any rest-imaginative idea inside oneself is flooded away by waves of movies and advertising with the same underlying pattern which, once we figure it out, has pretty much nothing to do with us either. For one side profit is made, for the other time (and often money) is lost.

How can imagination keep up with 10.000 pics in one's data base? How with a memory chock-full of second hand information? And how can someone respond to 20.000 songs that we don't even have the time to listen to? One more contemporary challenge!

Here are three empowering ways for the ones courageous enough to take the journey to themselves.

The  Buddha's once advised his students to question everything he said instead of just believing him. Question everything! That's a step towards knowing oneself! The Buddha was suggesting something radical in order to become who we really are because under the camouflaging dust and noise we are not our conditioning!

Yet inquiring is just one element of knowing oneself. We also need a direction, an intention. Intention is the pebble you throw into a still pond. The ripples it shows all have something to do with you while expanding out to others. Without such intention others will have one for you. They throw their pebbles into the pond and you are then left figuring out a complex interference pattern that has nearly nothing to do with you.

Discovering and acknowledging our talents is a supportive way to find our own direction. Without expressing ourself  as the unique being we are we may just spend our life reacting to circumstances. Talents are a wonderful guide to thrive on.

Next time the twitch for a selfie wants you to react you may choose to question it, dream up an intention and let yourself guide by your talents to manifest it. Just make the experience.