Paul Martin author of Original Faith: What Your Life Is Trying to
Tell You has written a guest post for my blog. As pre-winter winds blow and the sky turns gray, this very timely piece reminds us how important it is to look inward, find our deeper self and bring real meaning to our life. While on a two-hour hike through the forest and on the shore of Lake Michigan yesterday, my creativity was flowing, like water through a faucet, and I made a vow to shift from 'exercising' to 'create-ercising'. I was pleased to find that Paul refers to this in his post as receptive and creative capacity as noted by William Wordsworth. Who knew?
Do You Stop to Ask Directions?
By Paul M. Martin
Goal setting,
prioritizing, making choices, lists, decisions… these sorts of conscious and
controlling mental processes are indispensable for our lives at home, school,
and on the job. But we can end up feeling scattered and distracted – and even
that we might be losing our way – when we don’t also make time for listening to
ourselves.
The poet William
Wordsworth referred to this receptive and creative capacity as “wise
passiveness,” citing it as the frame of mind that allowed him to write poetry.
But it’s something that all of us experience from time to time, and we can take
steps to make it a regular part of our lives.
To begin with, notice how
often your best ideas spring to mind unexpectedly – while out taking a walk,
showering, on a long drive, or after you’ve gotten into bed before falling
asleep. Although such experiences are spontaneous, it’s easy to do things to
foster more of them. Some examples:
·
Walking
·
Jogging
·
Biking
·
Gardening
·
Arts
& crafts
·
Meditation
·
“Medipration”
– my mom’s term for a half hour of quiet, reflective time that she’d make for
herself in the morning. She’d sit at the kitchen table before anyone else was
up to sip coffee, look out the window, and be alone with her thoughts, sometimes
with a little soft music in the background.
There are many possible
activities to choose from. It’s a matter of finding something that engages your
mind in a relaxing way that leaves your mind mostly to itself.
To set goals and make
priorities that really make sense for us means keeping in touch with our deeper
selves as a continual source of inspiration and insight. It’s finally a matter
of being willing to receive as well as give direction for our lives.
Paul Martin has master’s
degrees in counseling and religious studies and is author of Original Faith: What Your Life Is Trying to
Tell You. Please visit www.originalfaith.com/
for more information on book and author and for Paul’s free eBook, Original Faith: Hard Times Handbook.
