The Anchor of Purpose

As a rather sensual, sensitive, and open Soul, I find that I am naturally more receptive to new ideas. I'm open to them all usually and I thoroughly enjoy the rush of energy that accompanies an idea I'd like to act on.

I tend to have a lot of them too!

Of course, the resistance to an idea is as much a part of the idea as any other. The other side of receptivity to creative, positive, light energy is the counter-balancing sensitivity to stagnant, negative, dark energy.

This means that we are as likely to have our inner fire ignited by an idea as we are to have it snuffed out by over-analysis and insecurity.

And eventually...

Take heart. This is perfectly natural. I've spent most of my life getting excited about an idea and ultimately failing to execute because of an influx of ideas about why or how it could be better.

I know I'm not the only one and that's why I'm writing this.

This is what my creative process looks like today.

One of the gifts of meditative practice is the clear seeing of the activity of the mind. Ideas, concepts, and other thoughts come and go of their own volition. I, as the witness, use my body and breath as Anchors to ground the mind when it wanders.

Think of this anchor as the middle of the infinity symbol above.

This does not stop the mind from wandering! And that isn't the goal.

What is the goal then?

It can be frustrating trying to focus on your breath and body sensations only to be nearly constantly distracted by thinking.

So what do you do? Do you slap yourself for being swept up by the mind?

Believe it or not, one of the many purposes of meditative practice is to cultivate the energy of Equanimity. Instead of immediately feeling like you're wasting your time when your mind wanders, you simply and graciously return to that beautiful breath and body.

Over and over and over and over and over. As long as you sit and then you do it again the next day. You operate from a place of infinite grace and stillness.

Eventually you begin to notice that when an emotionally charged thought manifests within your awareness, you actually have the choice to ride the rollercoaster or return to your breath and body. Your present moment awareness acts as an anchor for the inevitable influx of ideas and thoughts.

In time, that anchor gives all of the ideas, feelings, and sensations context. The difference that this context makes is almost imperceptibly subtle, but it is nothing short of remarkable.

It is a miraculous anchor and Purpose is no different.

Instead of sitting down and essentially daydreaming, you give the witnessing of those aspects of self a shape. All by dedicating that time to intentionally pay attention to them.

And what a beautiful shape it makes!

You stop getting swept up in the stream of thoughts and you begin to wake up to the vastness of what's in front of you rather than what the mind imagines. You just witness what's on your mind and what's happening in your body blissfully flowing from one moment to the next. You begin to see the fruits of the practice in all areas of life as the mental energy otherwise spent on hypothetical scenarios is concentrated in the present.

You ultimately unify the Body and Mind with the eternal anchor of the Soul.

So let's apply this to Purpose and our ideas as Creative Souls.

Most of us humans spend a great deal of time contemplating our purpose, but we aren't particularly intentional about it. We just brainstorm periodically and every now and then when something resonates, we fantasize only to return to whatever we were doing prior.

Just like with ideas. We get caught up in a sea of choices and lose contact with our anchor.

Which is ourselves, as we are.

Sound familiar? You're gonna hear that pretty often from me because we come into the game equipped! We have to recognize that first in all that we do.

Did you decide to like what you like? No, you just did. You don't necessarily decide to gravitate toward something, you just do, and you feel it within you.

Instead of looking within ourselves and trusting the wisdom we've gained from our life experiences, we crack open gigantic databases of professions and places where we can be told what to think and how to fit in like gears in a clock. In time, we are inundated with options, industries, career paths, and increasing debt. We join the rat race with no sense of who we are and no plans to ever get out.

When the truth is...

The problem isn't our need for survival and contribution to society. The problem is our tendency to let go of our Anchor.

That anchor is Purpose.

The only true security.

The widely sought and often overlooked treasure hidden within us.

The through-line in all that we do.

Metaphorically, we are made to leave the harbor and venture the seas of life, but we can't hope to brave those waters without a sense of who are. Without a sense of Purpose or a desire to tap into it, we are like a grocery bag blowing in the wind.

Purpose isn't found on the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

It isn't found in tireless effort against yourself or on a vision quest most times.

It isn't found solely in the Doing. It is found in Being.

We are human BEINGS after all, no? Through being we can see what comes naturally to us. We can see what feels effortless. We hold space for it and since we are anchored in equanimity, we nurture it by any means necessary.

I swear it's that simple.

My creative and visionary anchor is my Purpose. It was a process of stripping away layers that weren't truly me rather than looking for myself out in the world. Which wasn't easy, but it was incredibly simple.

Discovering it required me to dive deeply into who I am, not to succumb to societal pressure.

When I became still enough within, I realized it was through laughter that I realized what I wanted to give the world. I just paid attention to what lifted my spirit and why it always worked regardless of my circumstances.

You can do the same at any time.

There's no class or course for being other than being alive and aware. You're the student and the teacher.

You're already doing it and you get to decide where you want to apply your knowledge of self.

All you need to do is recognize what it is you wish to give the world. Identify HOW you want to live rather than getting lost in the infinite ways you can get there.

Believe me, the ways there are infinite. Sifting through them one by one is procrastination at its FINEST and I've spent many precious years wondering it all away instead of diving in.

When I finally dove within, I discovered my Purpose.

My purpose is to give Joy, Encouragement, and Strength to those with the willingness to receive it.

That it. I just want to give people joy and encourage them to cultivate it within themselves.

Did I mention how simple the process was?

I discovered that by just being myself and witnessing how jokes could bring me strength and hope.

Thanks to the anchor of my Purpose, the flux of ideas that cross through my mind now have context. As someone with multiple interests, I can manifest them all with the same goal.

It may not seem like much to declare and own your purpose, but I invite you to try it and see for yourself.

You might be surprised how clear your visions become. You might be surprised and how naturally those visions are to manifest.

That is no accident.

The world needs your Light, you beautiful, beautiful Soul.