“On the second day of Creativity…”
“If only I knew what I wanted.” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people say this through the years… and how many times I’ve said it myself along the way. Discovering what you’re called to – what you want to do, be, have, or create – seems like the first step in the creative process. In fact, it is the second.
Knowing what you want is a response to knowing what you don’t want.
Station 2 of the Wheel of Creativity is Appetite. Telling the truth about your Hunger – the vague sense of emptiness in Station 1 – brings you awareness of what you’re hungry for in Station 2. Paying attention to your Hunger tells you what you what you long for; it reveals your desire. And that gives direction to your life.
In late 2001, I reached a major turning point… the convergence of three endings: a two-year relationship, an all-consuming work project and the lease on my home. I knew I needed to leave where I was… but I had no idea where to go next. “This isn’t it” became my mantra. As months of restlessness passed, and I finally stopped fighting, a deeply buried longing became clear: “I need to lie on my back in the sun with my eyes closed.” That’s all I knew. But that knowing, which came from my deepest Self, gave me direction for my next step: a six-week “walkabout” in Europe.
Most of us, myself included, get stuck in the NOT of it all, resisting our longing because it is uncomfortable. We are conditioned by the pessimism around us to believe that we cannot have what we want, or that we need the latest XYZ to have it. Eventually we stop wanting what we want, stop knowing what we know, and stop feeling what we feel. We must regain our inner senses in order to truly live our own lives.
Station 1 asks you to tell the truth about your hunger. Station 2 asks you to pay attention to it until you know what you need. The gnawing in the spiritual belly reveals the empty places in your life; what will nourish you becomes clear in the space there. This can apply to:
- Your work
- Your health
- Your marriage
- Your art
- Any area of your life
Station 2 is where you translate what you don’t want into what you do want.
Yesterday, you chose one area of your life you’d like to change. Today, I invite you to pay attention to your hunger until you know what you need and want there.
- What do you wish for in this area?
- How would you like things to be?
- What do you dream of here?
Come out into the sunshine and witness your own Vision.
In these times of “economic crisis”, I think this hunger is awakening in a lot of people (at least those around me). People realise the “this is not it” in their lives, but at the same time, there seems to be resistance in listening to the inner voice, because of fear of the external forces – financial insecurity. I, personally am challenged with keeping my feet on the ground and listening to what I need and want. Since I can’t shut down the inner voice, I have had to so some active listening and it’s paid off. I was recently at a holiday gathering and of course the conversations came back to the crisis, and the person I was talking to shared how he has been surviving the crisis with bartering. And it wasn’t only him, people around him are bartering these days. Money is scarce, so let’s exchange services directly. Hearing that somehow instilled some confidence and encouraged me to trust the process. Somehow…things will work out, just don’t stop listening…to the inner voice, that is! But per the WOC …. stop listening to the pessimistic voices!!!
Thanks for your beautiful, pertinent interpretation, Babara. Times of crisis challenge us to get creative. When old methods don’t work, Life demands that we come up with something new. Once we get over the shock of the ‘failure’, new possibilities emerge. Bartering is a wonderful way of sharing our creative gifts directly… no money required… and the love doesn’t get lost in the paper transfer! ENJOY the process!