I have inner wisdom and so do you. This, I’m sad to say, is a relatively new insight for me.
On the Outside Never Looking In
In the past, when I felt out of sorts, I looked outside myself for answers. I never looked within. It was such a mess in there. All that chaos and confusion, a swirling sea of emotions, waves of wild ideas, and the debris of broken wishes.
I didn’t realize there was something underneath. Something quiet. Something calm. Something I could reach for and grab onto and steady myself with.
Things Get Quiet
When I began this blog, I did so, in part, because I’d discovered for myself the benefits of calming down in order to create something. I thought others might benefit as well.
The premise is pretty simple. It’s easier to be creative when you’re not freaking yourself out. Two-hundred-and-seventy posts can attest to that fact.
Before I calmed down, I wrote very little. I thought about it, talked about it, and sometimes cried about it, but I seldom ever did anything about it.
Lucky for me, I began to change. I started slowing down. I started breathing in and breathing out. I started calming down, and sitting down, and writing.
Derailing and Getting Back on Track
But every now and then, I’d jump back up. I’d pace, I’d stew, I’d tug at my hair. I’d go through spells of doing things the old way, which meant not doing them at all.
Then I’d remember, and I’d calm back down again. I’ve done this many times and I think I’m getting better at it.
Now here’s where the wisdom thing comes in.
An Unexpected Visitor
You see, initially I was only calming down in order to write and create, but it’s gradually became much more than that. I’d never been that quiet before. I’d simply never allowed it.
I think that’s why I kept jumping up from time to time. In the midst of all that quiet, I was starting to hear myself and I wasn’t used to listening. I guess it made me nervous.
But I kept coming back because I wanted to write, and each time I came back I got a little quieter, stayed a little longer, heard a little more. Eventually, I started listening.
And there it was: my wisdom. In fact, it’s here right now and I know it will be here tomorrow when I wake up. It’s been here all along, just waiting, wondering if I’d ever notice. It will be here until I breathe my last breath. It will never abandon me, and, now that I know that, I must remember to never abandon it.
Someone’s Waiting for You to Listen
You have wisdom, too. I know this because I know I’m simply human. I haven’t been granted a special power that no one else has access to. I haven’t received a revelation. I’ve been granted no divine authority.
I’m just a guy who got quiet because he wanted to write and somewhere in the midst of the silence discovered he had something more than words: a friend, a guide, a companion – his wisdom.
Please do yourself a favor. At some point in the midst of all the hustle and bustle, pause for one curious moment and ask yourself, “What’s waiting for me in the silence?” Then go there and find out.
Are you getting all the Quiet Inspiration you need? Subscribe to Quiet Inspiration, the Mildly Creative Newsletter. You can also subscribe to these blog posts via RSS feed or by Email.
{ 7 comments }
