If you don’t know where you’re going, can you get there from here?

We can’t have full knowledge all at once. We must start by believing; then afterwards we may be led on to master the evidence for ourselves.

— Saint Thomas Aquinas

Recently I wrote about my frustration at not having a vision for going forward: And, as often happens, a teacher (several in fact) appeared… First I came upon a simple e-mail poem that struck a chord:

It is only a tiny rosebud, a flower of God’s design;
But I cannot unfold the petals with these clumsy hands of mine.

The secret of unfolding flowers is not known to such as I.
GOD opens this flower so easily, but in my hands they die.

If I cannot unfold a rosebud, this flower of God’s design,
Then how can I have the wisdom to unfold this life of mine?
So I’ll trust in God for leading each moment of my day.
I will look to God for guidance in each step of the way.

The path that lies before me, only my Lord knows.
I’ll trust God to unfold the moments, just as He unfolds the rose.

— Unknown

Interesting, simple analogies about roses and butterflies are teaching me that I don’t need to figure it all out right now, I can figure it out as it unfolds…

The Power of Intention

In my post, Holding On, I wished that I could “…find the strength and know-how to climb to the next level because there are things I should be doing, ready or not.  Like figuring out what my purpose in life is now.  Traveling again.  Getting juiced about my art again.  Getting juiced about life in general!”

And, a day or so later, the post “7 Ways to Wreck a Powerful Intention” came across my screen in a newsletter from Christine Kane.  She advised:

The beautiful thing about setting intention is that it’s a shout out to the universe and to your wisest deepest self. When you set an intention, you don’t have to know HOW.  So, if you intend “to force myself to get up and work out every morning,” then you’re stuck in the world of “I must make this happen.” Intention is gentler than that…

Yes, of course, you take action. But you don’t force anything or figure anything out. Sometimes this requires waiting a little while to clear out some of the clutter in your life, or even just allow for some rest while your mental chatter shuts up a bit. [italics are Ellie’s]

If you can’t hear your deepest self yet, then it’s good to start somewhere. The perfect and right path will open before you… You are where you are right now. …make that your starting point.

A big Ah-ha …Perhaps it is unfolding before me. Three good signs:

• I’ve shouted out my intention for purpose and “juice” even though I don’t yet know HOW I’ll make it so.
• I’ve found a gentle way of telling my mental chatter to SHUT UP by humming Hush little baby, don’t say a word…
• And about that clutter stuff – well I’m still plugging away at it…it’s taking longer than I expected or wanted it to… and I’m learning, over and over again, that’s OK.

And, just in case I didn’t get it from the rose and butterfly stories, Kane’s blog post has given me yet another reminder: I needn’t try to force this process… wait and listen. (Listen up Ellie!)

Start Where You Are

Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.

— Arthur Ashe

Kane also suggested the value of creating a Vision Board:

The idea behind this is that when you surround yourself with images of who you want to become, what you want to have, where you want to live, or where you want to vacation, your life changes to match those images and those desires.

And as I read that, I remembered: a few short months before we detoured into the battle of my late husband’s lifetime – challenging esophageal cancer, a fight that united us in love, faith, hope and prayer – we created a set of shared vision books; and, three years later, I’m willing to bet that those books are filled with many images that still hold true even though he’s no longer here to share in the unfolding of those visions.

One of the beauties of creating a vision board or book is that you don’t have to KNOW what images you’re looking for… you just look and when you see something that attracts you, capture it for your vision board – after a while the accumulation of images will inform you – you’ll see what you’re looking for in the repetition of images.  This is great for us “visuals”… and it makes me wonder what would work for “auditories” and “kinesthetics”…  perhaps simply a collection of music lyrics and melodies and/or a collection of tactile objects that inform your senses??

If you’d like to create your own vision book, here’s how:

A Vision board is created by an individual to illustrate what he wants in this life. A vision board is a personal collection of an individual’s desires and no restrictions are placed on the images or words displayed on the board…

A vision board is created by pasting images and words on a poster board to display … goals. The images can be magazine photos, personal photos, or hand drawn pictures and sketches. As well, the words can be cut from media formats or be handwritten.

Onward I go, unfolding myself little by little… and in the spirit of starting where I am, I think I’ll go looking for those vision books and let them become my jumping off spot, a start-up guide to envisioning my future.  It’s a place to start: from where I am, with what I have, I’ll do what I can.

If you don’t know where you’re going, can you get there from here?