Permission Granted

For the past few years Cassandra has been threatening me with a gift subscription to her favorite magazine, Science of Mind. This past Christmas I finally got one, and I absolutely love it. She knew I would. Aside from the excellent and enlightening articles on the broad scope of spirituality (which are thankfully about as long as my attention span these days) there's a 'daily reading', which I've come to appreciate greatly as a jump start to each morning. Perfectly paired with a pot of java, of course.

I was raised hearing a mantra that both my Mother and her Father used frequently. "If you're going to do something, do it the right way or don't bother at all." This philosophy cuts like a double edge sword. On the one hand I, with much pride and integrity, approach everything in my life with a "give it my best" attitude. On the other, I've spent a good deal of my life under some serious pressure to achieve perfection in my constant myriad of creative endeavors. Unlearning the notion that there's only one right way to do everything has been no small fete. And while I possess an inner drive that continues to propel me forward no matter what, I can see how that kind of rigid thinking could prevent a person from following their dreams. Has the pressure to NOT SCREW IT UP paralyzed you from even attempting to actualize your visions? Pursue your desires?

 As an artist of many mediums, I've had to learn to trust my process...and that has taught me that there is almost always more than one 'right way' to do anything. Which may (and frequently does) result in more than one outcome or result. Allowing that outcome or result to be what it is (or isn't) and knowing that it is indeed EXACTLY what it's supposed to be, might be the most liberating thing you can do. From attempting what appears to be a complicated recipe to starting your own business. If you don't keep moving forward, you get stuck where you are. I've been hyper-aware of that lately...

The following excerpt from the magazine was one of my recent morning readings, and some excellent food for thought on this Sunday morning...for me, and for you. Namaste.

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In 1945, the great writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was arrested by the Soviets for criticizing Joseph Stalin in a letter to a friend. In a special labor camp in Ekibastuz, Kazakhtan, he wrote his epic poem Prussian Nights. He had no pen or paper and was not allowed to write. Each day, he would compose a few lines, carve them into a bar of soap, and recite them over and over until they were committed to memory. Each evening in his daily shower, he would use the bar of soap and wash away his writing. After years of captivity, he had written the entire book, committed it to memory, and watched it be washed away every evening.

When we have something that needs to be expressed, we will find an outlet for it's expression. There will never be a more perfecct time than right now, never a more perfect place than right here, and never anyone more perfect than you to express what needs to be expressed.

So many of us have a challenge writing down what's bubbling up for us, even when we have a pen and paper and permission to write. What if we give ourselves permission to write down- or draw, or sing or dance- what is alive for us in this moment, and understand that we can always make changes? What would happen if we were to honor the process rather than the demand the perfection?