(Video) Connection: The Roadmap For Desire

Hello friends!

I hope you’re enjoying your Friday.  We’ve got a little something special for you today to mix things up a bit and invite you into and exciting new season.  Spring and change are both definitely in the air.

Connection

Today is all about going deeper into our desire: those beautiful heart longings that effect powerful change in our lives.  I’ve put together a super simple video (read: iPhone in the living room on my way out the door this morning!) that will hopefully tee up our journey ahead.  I look forward to connecting with you in new, dynamic ways that will enrich your process and build out even more confidence and consistency for whatever chapter you find yourself in!

Space to Ponder

If you live in Nashville, you know that it is frozen solid, offering her inhabitants some forced down time, or the chance to bravely (?) slide around those icy streets (not recommended). So, how are we doing? Personally, after a week of being sick, I have traded in my flu symptoms fora case of  good ole’ cabin fever.  Neither is ideal, but I’ll take cabin fever over the flu any day!

It is a curious thing that we often do not welcome the extra rest and space these inconvenient winter storms grant us. My observation is that we actually miss the hectic rat race of our normal schedules. Why is this?  Perhaps when there is stillness and space, we must be totally present and aware of ourselves and our potential. We must go into that place and sit…and listen. Busyness allows us to detach and cruise along on autopilot. What I have learned over the years is that people on the therapeutic journey are extremely intuitive and creative on some level. We imagine more for our lives than autopilot; we want meaning…significance. Creative people do several things well, and one of those things is ruminate. We like to think, and over-think, and think about what our over-thinking means, and then we think about it some more for further clarification. I’m exhausted just thinking about it!

Our thoughts can be very beautiful, helpful creatures that bring life and even magic. Consider your favorite movie or song or childhood story book…they all began with a creative little explosion…a thought! Our thoughts can also be prisons, holding us captive as they team up with fear, anxiety, and perfectionism, stunting us from living life to the fullest, or at all. In this respect, I am amazed by how I get in my own way, intentionally choosing to foster toxic thoughts instead of life-giving ones. Is anyone with me?

How can space help?

Most of us want to have some semblance of control in our lives, (says the self-proclaimed control freak!)  So, let’s use this to our advantage.  Whether it is the longer than normal line at the grocery store, or winter storm Octavia (sidenote: I personally thought Frozen’s Anna or Elsa would be far more appropriate names than Octavia…but oh well), we will always have capsules of space to ponder and be one with ourselves; to choose connection. Delightfully enough, this space gives us time to connect with those things that  steer our lives directionally: our Desires. Fear can steer us too, yet, in my experience, the scenery is much less inviting.

I Imagine how different a day can look if we feed hopeful, even excited thoughts instead of dreary, self-defeating ones.  What stands in the way of you connecting with your desires for love, beauty, significance, prosperity, creativity, and connection?  Furthermore, how can we excavate those heartfelt desires, and give them a voice and some air?

Well, last time I checked, this weather is not permitting much unnecessary busyness, so do yourself a favor, and embrace the space. Write down those desires. It’s just you and you. Encourage them in yourself just as you lovingly encourage a friend. It may feel awkward at first. However, you may just discover that after consistently choosing desire over fear today, tomorrow, and next month…each and every choice may just snowball into something very real and powerful.

With Love & Gratitude,

The Power of Ritual (Desire)

The enemy of art is the absence of limitations.

-Orson Welles

What is it that drives you?  What gets you out of bed each morning?  Perhaps it is a steaming hot cup of coffee, or the inevitable 8am commute to that blessed place called work, or training for a 10k, or… love? I am talking about that thing you love and desire more than anything else.  It’s the thing that makes us depressed and edgy when we ignore it, yet freaked out and energized when we embrace it.

I am still trying to fully define this for myself, so if you are clueless, don’t worry…you’re not alone.  More and more though, I think what drives me on many levels is healing and beauty.  As broad as those may seem, it’s what I keep coming back to.  It seems once we hone in on an area of interest, or the general concepts behind it, we can experiment and tease out the specifics over time.

For example, despite the fact that beauty and healing are pretty nebulous, I have learned that they really do show up in most of my daily focus.  This can look like working with clients in a counseling setting or communicating through writing and/or song, or maybe even creating a space for others to enjoy it while connecting over a dinner table (assuming my cooking turns out beautifully).  Thankfully, I havelearned that our drive, calling, passion, whatever you call it, doesn’t have to look a certain way.  We can get rid of the boxes.  Calling is birthed in desire and nurtured through ritual.  It’s far less complicated than we make it.

A songwriter friend of mine once told me about an interview she saw with John Mayer. Despite his less than glowing publicity throughout the years, he has been a long-time favorite guitar player and singer/songwriter of mine. I am also inspired by his steely will that paved the road to his oozing, effortless talent and style.   In this interview, Mayer shared how he  “locked himself up” for an entire year to focus solely on one thing: learning and loving everything about the guitar. In the interview, he also challenged others to examine their schedules and passions, and to be super serious about committing to their craft.  Now, I don’t know all the details of his ritual and what exactly “locking himself up” looked like (nor am I encouraging anyone to follow his extreme lead), but the concept is worth examining:

What practices do I have in place to further my deep desire for __________________?  

I am always a bit jolted into action when I hear someone challenge me this way: “Well, if you don’t embrace and pursue your passion, someone else will run with it!”  Ouch.  Talk about serious blow to the old ego!  However, it seems to get right down to the point and gaugelevels of committment.  Sometimes fear can be a powerful catalyst if we are clever about it.  By this I mean fear can be an excellent indicator of calling.  There is always resistance around places of truth and destiny; fear tends to be the preliminary symptom of courage leading the way.   We have the opportunity to discover and commit to something excellent, yet in my experience, when the desire or goal loses its sparkle and the honeymoon phase is over, we abandon our work; what was once ablazing pursuit becomes a dim and lonely path.  Have you ever experienced this? 

 These final blazing days of summer  may be the perfect time to examine some  habits.  I believe Ritual is a heavy hitter in the realm of progress, thus I am breaking this entry up into two segments for the sake of being annoyingly wordy.  BUT, what would be awesome is to get your feedback. Take a few minutes and email me your experience as it relates to this stuff.  How have you tackled, accomplished, bombed, and even re-invented your greatest loves: those things that get you moving each day?  What are your daily and weekly rituals? How do you get the most from them and even make them…fun?! I can’t wait to hear from you…

xoxo

katie