Everyone is building something. We're all in motion, taking action. And...... we know when we're in motion with the wrong thing when we feel "the quiet frustration, the feeling that something meaningful is supposed to happen and it just... doesn't."
“Meaning comes after movement. You carve away the parts that don’t fit. You shape by subtraction. You press your hands into the day, and bit by bit, something starts to take form.” — this, especially, resonated so much, thank you for putting it so beautifully!!
How true. So very necessary that we turn down the voices in our heads stopping us. For me, it was the voice of my parents as I wrote my memoir. It prevented me from writing authentically until I shook it off and gave importance to my own voice.
Thank you Johanna - absolutely - distractions are real, and the "right" action isn't always obvious.
There are 2 things I can suggest, and it depends how early one is in a particular project or journey
- If one is early in a project or journey, exploratory action is better than aiming for right action. It's about learning as much as possible, even if that means occasionally entertaining some "distractions" and rabbit holes.
- If one is later in a project, I think the "right" next action becomes less ambiguous, and distractions become easier to recognise.
Brutally true & beautiful. I believe we all know this is true yet running away is so much easier. Thank you for the reminder! Best of all to you, Susan
How can we be sure our creating won’t inadvertently cause some sort of harm- deplete resources that could be important later or create some sort of danger? I like to make art for example but after seeing that artists were feeling like they had to go to all these lengths to evaporate water from their paint and then isolate the dried to reuse because of possible contamination if like rinsed off or wiped into normal trash I haven’t felt like creating anything- all the chance of possible unintentional harm is too risky
Anna, thank you for your thoughtful comment. I would argue that one can't be sure of anything. To be human is to create, both art and waste. There are of course sustainable ways of doing things, using inputs that don't have harsh chemicals etc, and I would encourage that.
Everyone is building something. We're all in motion, taking action. And...... we know when we're in motion with the wrong thing when we feel "the quiet frustration, the feeling that something meaningful is supposed to happen and it just... doesn't."
Thanks for double clicking on that - such a nice way of inverting what I’ve written to say - start with aligned action, and meaning follows.
“Meaning comes after movement. You carve away the parts that don’t fit. You shape by subtraction. You press your hands into the day, and bit by bit, something starts to take form.” — this, especially, resonated so much, thank you for putting it so beautifully!!
Thank you Manorma! Glad it resonated with you
How true. So very necessary that we turn down the voices in our heads stopping us. For me, it was the voice of my parents as I wrote my memoir. It prevented me from writing authentically until I shook it off and gave importance to my own voice.
This is the jolt to make that first step. Thanks Zan!
Indeed it is - glad this resonated with you Daniel
Yep we design our purpose. At the same time, distractions are real and how exactly to take action isn’t always obvious.
Thank you Johanna - absolutely - distractions are real, and the "right" action isn't always obvious.
There are 2 things I can suggest, and it depends how early one is in a particular project or journey
- If one is early in a project or journey, exploratory action is better than aiming for right action. It's about learning as much as possible, even if that means occasionally entertaining some "distractions" and rabbit holes.
- If one is later in a project, I think the "right" next action becomes less ambiguous, and distractions become easier to recognise.
What are your thoughts on that framing?
I tend to agree. Achieving clarity becomes easier the narrower the scope and when we have enough data/options to draw a conclusion. I wrote a 2-part series on discovering your life purpose where I elaborate even further. https://harmoniousbalance.substack.com/p/discover-your-specific-life-purpose?r=2q6vf7
Brutally true & beautiful. I believe we all know this is true yet running away is so much easier. Thank you for the reminder! Best of all to you, Susan
Thank you Susan - indeed a lot of this is stuff we inherently know yet don't want to face. You put it very eloquently! I'm glad you enjoyed this :)
How can we be sure our creating won’t inadvertently cause some sort of harm- deplete resources that could be important later or create some sort of danger? I like to make art for example but after seeing that artists were feeling like they had to go to all these lengths to evaporate water from their paint and then isolate the dried to reuse because of possible contamination if like rinsed off or wiped into normal trash I haven’t felt like creating anything- all the chance of possible unintentional harm is too risky
Anna, thank you for your thoughtful comment. I would argue that one can't be sure of anything. To be human is to create, both art and waste. There are of course sustainable ways of doing things, using inputs that don't have harsh chemicals etc, and I would encourage that.