I have been toying with ideas of what earning income is, and why I have such a hard time being motivated to make money.
What if instead of creating a product or service in order to get clients and be paid we look at it another way?
What if instead of grasping the early bird discounts for what we think we can get to make our lives better, we sit down and re-connect with ourselves and see that we have all that we need within….?
What if instead of signing up for yet another online course where the screen timer shows you how many minutes you still have before missing out on super bonuses worth $997 you take your time to ask your heart whether this is what it really wants?
What if we’re all just running scared, thinking that we have to make more, get more, hoard more to make up for our perceived deficiencies? Flaws that some expert has said can be changed by doing ten affirmations a day or that an author fixed with some newly discovered formula…?
What if actually we are already OK?
What if we abandon our thinking that says in order to be abundant (financially and in every other area of our lives) we need to offer something that someone else needs to get well, to improve their confidence, to be given information which will lead to riches, to answer life questions, to discover what type of personality they are so that they can make changes to better fit in to society …?
What if we simply offer ourselves.
As we are.
Nothing else.
Not even our time or attention.
Just us.
Our personalities, our individual characters, our unique expression.
Our humanness.
What if we do what we love to do, for the pure simple joy of doing it, and people give to us for the joy they receive from us?
Because we can’t help themselves from giving, because we love feeling good and want to share our own joy?
Would that not create great abundance? Would that not bring unlimited resources from Life itself because we would all be aligned with the limitless giving of the Universe?
Might we not then just want to give for the joy of giving?
Just a thought. Or two …
For the last three days I have been creating pages in my sketchbook that I bought specifically to record my exploration into the world of art and design…
This morning I realised that following my inspiration does not mean that every day I have to create a piece of work. I have, once again, made it in to a chore, a check list, something to beat myself up about if I don’t accomplish it every day…
Reflecting on this takes me back to when I was about seven. At the beginning of each week I would take out a double page spread from the middle of a school notebook and draw a grid of ‘Things to do to be good’ which I would tick as I completed them. I can’t remember what they all were now, but they included such things as cleaning my teeth, things which would give some certainty to my knowing that I could achieve the tasks I had set myself. I can see now that it was an attempt to feel safe, to be in control, and has been echoed ever since in attempts to diet or follow other impossible resolutions that I set myself. And then, as now, when I failed in some way – which meant not having a 100% success rate – I would give up and berate myself for my shortcomings. And then start all over the following Monday, thinking I would be able to master it this next time….
But following my inspiration may look very different….
It could be just sitting on the allotment basking in the panorama of the marshes dotted with trees covered in May blossom…
It could be admiring the tiny orange and black butterfly that landed on the comfrey ….
It could be arranging my pots outside my back door ….
It could be writing a blog post…
The other insight this morning is about letting go of ‘why’ thoughts. For some time now I have wanted to find a way to bring all my reflections, inspirations, art works and writings into one place, and questioning my need for this. Now I realise that I can follow this impulse for its own sake, for the joy that I receive from doing it, without needing to know the purpose of it. Intellectually I could see that it may be because it could form part of a book that I may create one day, but even that doesn’t matter. Just follow my inspiration and see what wants to emerge…
Today is Day One of my journey through life following my inspiration. And I think it is rather fitting that I came up with the above name last night as its title! I intend to make it into a book in a year’s time – ‘Out of My Mind – 365 days of following nothing but inspiration’.
I love the title for its many layers of meaning. Some will think I am mad – ‘what, you’re not worrying about money?’ or ‘don’t you see, you have to set goals, make plans, money doesn’t grow on trees you know’, or ‘you’ve got to take responsibility for yourself, you can’t keep drifting and flitting about’. If I had to respond to these remarks (which I don’t, and won’t!) I would say that I am trusting that I have everything I need. I have faith that by following my inspiration I will be guided and the money will follow. Sure, I don’t know how, but that is the magic of Life. And in the past, when up against the same dire financial straits that I find myself in now, something has always come up. I survived then, and so too will I now. I am still here, I have a roof over my head and food in the cupboard.
And more importantly, I have joy in my heart.
The other meaning refers to me listening to my heart, my soul, and not my temporary and illusory thinking of my little mind that usually drives all that I do, thinking that it is in charge, that it knows the answers and can figure it all out. Because it doesn’t know my soul’s calling, and usually it does everything to sabotage my efforts to follow my joy.
And as if my magic, as a sign that even my intention is good enough to create abundance I had two surprises in the post this morning – a gift voucher for an online store (printed with a colourful and inspiring floral design) and some seeds from a friend with a beautiful card to boot.
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