If there is one thing I know, it’s that there is no singular magical answer. There is no material thing – house, car, enough money that will ever satisfy us if we’re not looking inside first. It’s like stoking a fire with water. That’s because we’ve got it backwards. What feels tangible and substantial, like material things, the right job, the right car, the right clothes, doesn’t sustain and fulfill us. And all of those illusive, inner things, like happiness, wholeness, fulfillment, the things you can’t touch, are what provide depth to our lives. 

Helen Luke created a whole community just so you could listen to what it is you really needed and wanted in your life. Sometimes we need quiet and like minds around us to inspire us. Sometimes we need a change of scene to change our lives.

I personally think our whole culture is uncomfortable with anything we can’t see or touch. We need it to be concrete in order for it to really exist. So we all look for the miracle answer, the one thing that will solve all our problems, that will satisfy our cravings and provide meaning. Of course this can never be. The universe is not static, everything changes. The answer is always multiple and it’s usually hidden from view.

And on top of that it changes as we change. The answer at 20 is not the answer at 40. It is up to each of us to look for those answers within ourselves, in the moment. What does our gut tell us? What actions get supported, which one don’t. These are good indicators whether we are on the right path or not.

It can be tricky listening to what’s going on inside and figuring out what you really want. It shape shifts, morphs, and then the ego comes in to say all our thoughts and feelings aren’t real anyway. There are a million ways to fall off the path of doing what’s right for us, but only one way to get back on, keep listening to our inner voice. If we keep going within and stop searching for ourselves in others, we will find what we’re looking for. The answers are given when we look at the depths within. 

Rumi has a beautiful poem that goes,

I have lived

on the lip of

insanity, wanting to

know reasons, knocking

on a door.

It opens.

I’ve been knocking from the inside.

Yes, we’re back on the inside. That’s because the inside has something to say. The question is, will we listen?

Start out on a path that feels right. Pick one thing you know you really want to do. Begin. Start anywhere, but start. Everyone’s path will look different, we all have different gifts and talents. The question is will we let them speak? Will we give them a voice? A life to move around in?

Here’s to more listening and following through in creating our unique life. 

kb