When it's time for me to write a newsletter, I often refer to
my previous writings for ideas. This month, however, when I looked
in my past files, I felt constricted. I didn't want to go back to
the past. Instead, I wanted something fresh. I began to think that
most of our ideas and actions aren't new. They are often just
rehashed experiences when most of us long for new possibilities.
I had a dream in which a spiritual teacher and prolific writer
appeared. He carried an empty briefcase through the airport, and I
found this to be astonishing. When I asked him why, he said it was
because we never need to refer back to our experiences or files
for information. In other words, we don't have to carry this
weight around since it just holds us down. He said the greatest
potential is in the now if we just open ourselves up to it.
After formulating the idea for this article, a friend ran into
someone who had taken a year off from work. This break allowed her
to live in the moment. Suddenly she found herself singing. Songs
began to come to her fully formed. She took voice lessons and then
recorded songs. She is now in the process of selling advertising
jingles. Had she insisted that what was next for her would come
from her past, none of these new successes would have happened.
Had she not given herself time and space, her creative impulse may
never have sprung up.
If we want something new in our lives, we need to open ourselves
up to possibilities--fly out of the cage of conditioning and
experiences. We don't have to be a continuation of our past; we
don't have to define what is next by looking at what has come
before, by go through our old files. We can make a quantum leap
into something new, carrying our own empty briefcases.
Travel light, give yourself some time and space. You just never
know what brilliant impulse might spring up.
Lisa
