Staying connected to what I love is easy Once I make the time, defend my goals, and quiet my hyperactive mind…
Lately I’ve been putting much intention into completing my illustrated young adult book. Even when I don’t have time, I make time. It’s in the final phase, way beyond the third trimester, and I tell you this baby is ripe and ready! But it needs its 437th edit and a few last illustrations for finesse. I make time for it every day, no matter how busy. My soul is most as peace when I am working on story. When I am working on story I am living my bliss.
Once I settle into it, turn the phone off, turn off my chatty mind, the story and the characters and the images start doing cartwheels. They’re overjoyed to see me and have no expectation for what we’ll do or where we’ll go. They’re like that old friend who you can just sit with doing nothing but end up having the most wonderful time and feel so fed. Not that I sit doing nothing, quite the contrary actually. But sometimes the progress is so slow that it feels like I am barely moving millimeters, let alone inches.
Even if I’m moving at a snails pace, it’s still a walk in the park. I’m living my bliss and that should be exquisite, right? Truth is, most of the time it is. But some days my head tries to do the walking and those days are ridden with challenges. Much like mosquito’s at the lake in summer, my mind breeds distraction. If, on my mosquito ridden path, I dab some essential oils and keep moving, with eyes focused on the beautiful day, they don’t bite. But once I stop, I start itching and it’s over. The welts grow and I think of all the things that prevent me from just enjoying what is. The bathroom needs cleaning, the plants need a drink, the pain in my back might just be a malignant tumor from a parasite I contracted in a jungle I’ve never visited (my mind tends to rush towards the absurd and dramatic).
Ahhh! There’s no room in here to even move let alone sit and create. Despite the persona I present in a business meeting or yoga class, my mind is hyperactive. “Go! Go! Go!” It shouts as enthused as a caffeinated soccer mom on the sideline of my soul. The mind is delightfully active and alive. Always wanting to run that marathon again. “Just four more times,” it begs.
So I dialog with the racket and clamor of my head. I say, “I hear you but I’m on a date with my soul,” and all those little mosquito’s scurrying to get a meal, they don’t just fly away and leave me to my path – they actually swarm more! I try to be strong and think of Jesus and John Lennon with a flare of Zen complacency. If I could just love them, maybe they’d go away. But I know loving them isn’t going to change them, it’s only changing my relationship to them.
Mosquito’s will be mosquito’s and minds will be minds so I do something different. I jump off the marathon path. I say farewell to trying to win the race and I dive into the lake where they can’t bite. The water always clears my head. If you’re an artist, a writer, a musician, a dancer, an actor, a creative individual, a human being, then you know there will always be mosquito’s (heck, there may even be leaches in that lake)! The creative dance has no room for control but there is room for preparation. When navigating a path of intention to obtain a creative goal and fulfill your souls bliss, the trick is this: pack what you need (hint, it’s not a cell phone or an iPod), dress appropriately (clothed in determination and an extra layer if it’s cold), lastly and most importantly, frequently be ready to change the course.
Changing the course does not mean abandoning the destination goal. The goal is the compass and the course is the best and most important part; it’s the journey.
Did you know that only female mosquito’s bite? Males sustain themselves from the nectar of plants and fruits, while females require blood of animals to survive and produce offspring. “Share Life” as the blood donation campaigns market. Thanks to the female mosquito’s, we learn more about life each day as scientists continue developing images of Earth’s past. Through analyzing and tracing the DNA contained within these 46 million year old insects, history is still unfolding, adding chapters to the story of life on our planet. Next time you swat at that annoyance on your path, think of the mosquito. Everything has a part to play in our grand tale of livin’.
