This is one of my favorite things. I pick up a random book I’m suddenly drawn to, flip it open to any page, and start reading. This invariably leads me to a fresh idea or a long-lost memory. Then I’m onto a piece of writing, then an old poem or a story I love but had forgotten. Then somehow all of these random bits of information and insight begin to connect in an amazingly beautiful way and I begin to write or draw or dream. The whole point is I don’t know where I’ll be taken, it’s completely unexpected and unplanned. There is tremendous joy in not knowing what adventure I’ll be lead on or the random connections this spontaneous inner rumination will offer. I just get quiet and a mental thread of something I love will appear and lead me to a million different shores. And I delight in every shore.
What this looks like on the outside is a bunch of books opened to the references I was searching for, journals with notes scrawled in them, a mess of colored pens and pencils scattered everywhere, post-its marking pages; essentially like a bomb went off in a Office Depot. This is a vortex of love for me. I feed off it. I never tire of being rocked by some crazy connection or surprise idea. Any direction I take inevitably leads to a new thread and unexpected ideas. Where it comes from is a mystery. When it does come I simply tend the fire and watch what emerges. Watching inspiration arise and following where it leads is one of the most incredible ways to spend my time. Basking in and extending this energy is pure magic.
The truth is none of us ever know where a wave of connection or spontaneous synchronicity will come from or how it might change the way we live our lives. Sudden inspiration strikes, then words come, ideas come, somewhere deep inside a memory is unburied and a tidal wave of new ideas, feelings, and inner realizations are launched that can transport us to a completely different place from where we started. This is how new worlds within us are born. Soul puttering involves paying closer attention so we can see what’s on the horizon of possibility and welcome it with open arms.
Slowing down to take a look around makes room for what could be. Suddenly new and surprising vistas open, and the unexpected and foreign leads us back to what matters most. We may find ourselves in a new land with new joys and perhaps a new purpose. This is how we tend to the soul and the pleasures that can’t quite be named. It can happen in a million different ways, a long walk in nature, dancing, daydreaming, listening to music, drawing, or painting, the one thing they all have in common is that they’re creative ways of meeting the soul.
Just because you aren’t accomplishing another thing on your to-do list doesn’t mean what’s happening isn’t important. Relax a little. This soulful rumination is one of the most important things we’ll ever spend our time on. It’s the act of creation that sets our soul on fire and let’s us see our lives in a different and more connected way. All that’s required is opening to what inspires you and following where it leads.
What is soul puttering for you? Pick up a book, a journal, some paints, or step outside into the garden, you never know where it may lead you.
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