Intent
Intent is a funny thing. We are told that intention can
bring about myriads of change. And it can. But, there is a trick to intent.
That trick is that it cannot be empty words. You can’t say, “I intend to be
happy today” or “I intend to smile all day” or, even, “I intend to accomplish
all of my to-do list today,” without FEELING these intentions. Those feelings
have to come from deep within your soul. They have to be woven into your fibers
in order for you to honestly and truly do what you intended to do. Now, I am
not talking about intending to run to the mailbox, but an intention that is to
bring about deep and gratifying change; a change that reverberates through our
beings and shifts who we are.
How often have you said you intend to X and then found yourself at the end of the day having forgotten all about said intent? That’s because you didn’t FEEL it. You didn’t focus on it. You didn’t embed it into your spirit, into your heart, into your mind or your soul. You have to focus on what you are going to get out of that intention and permeate it inwards until you can honestly envision yourself after having followed through with that intention. You are your ship’s captain and no one can navigate the vessel save you.
All of this stems from a whirlwind set in motion by some musings I picked up on from three different places over the course of this week:
Abby Kerr has been educating her readers on the difference between “unintentional mimicry” and “collective consciousness” over at her blog. (Excellent reads. I highly recommend.) As an example, perhaps, of Abby’s collective consciousness idea, my mom, suggested last night that I forget my perfectionism and try to write my book without focusing on the details. “Just write the book, then go back and fix what needs to be done” was preceded by an anecdote of my childhood qualms about playing softball because I wasn’t good enough (I ended up on a travelling team…pretty good honors at the time… because she wouldn’t let me quit). Then, I wake up to find Justine Musk over at Tribal Writer (creative genius and author of “BloodAngel”), discussing why perfectionism bites us in the back instead of pushes us forward.
Was my mom reading Justine’s blog? No, but this shows you how things are on people’s minds at the same time seemingly without connection. I digress…
What does all of this have to do with intention, you ask in frustration with babbling?
If we intend to make something of ourselves, be they writers, mothers, fathers, students, or just really good people, it means taking our perfectionism and shoving it down our throats; swallowing it and its prickly shards. Setting for ourselves a new intention to evolve whatever part of us it is that we want to change and steeping in it until it is interwoven into our hearts. Only then, can we succumb to our intentions and emerge new and more fabulous us-es.
What intentions have you been superficially setting forth without FEELING them in your core? Is your perfectionism preventing your evolution?
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© Tania Dakka and Chaotic Musing, 2011.