Let me take a little of your time to talk about the concept of “getting there”. The lives of many seem to revolve around this elusive destination. Lately, mine as well. I’m a writer. I’m as passionate about this as the next writer out there. I’ve spent countless hours obsessing about the next steps in my writing “career.” The goals. The milestones. The obstacles.
I was first focused on getting a story—any story—published. Then I was focused on getting more stories published, then on joining a number of communities, and now I’m gearing up to obsess about finding an agent.
And as my obsessions peaked, the pure, innocent joy that the act of writing is for me dissolved.
Many spiritual traditions maintain that we are born complete. But as we go through life, we forget that we were complete and enough from the very beginning.
I subscribe to this worldview. For me “leveling up” in writing is not gaining something wholly external. Undeniably, there are lessons to be learned from others, and I don’t plan to ever stop searching for these lessons. But I view such external experiences as a way to access the potential inside me. And since we’re all clueless little deities who have forgotten our power and our grand abilities, this potential is boundless. It’s only up to us how far we’ll go. It’s not about the distance, though. It’s about finding the path that’s ours.
Obsessing about getting “there,” I’ve found, would not unlock anything. It’s, in fact, rather paralyzing. “Doing my thing” is the only vessel to a meaningful life I’ve discovered. “Doing my thing,” I’m beginning to gather, is forgetting to compare and judge*. Generosity to one’s self and others is what seems to unlock in me the unrestrained and all-consuming art I’ve been craving.
So I’ve been asking myself some questions lately:
Am I comfortable in my skin right now, without looking towards some future self or situation?
Am I sacrificing today for tomorrow?
Am I feeling the joy now?
Let me ask you: Are you?
To answer the question in the title: Does anyone ever get “there?” In my humble opinion, we all got “there” yesterday. But I’d love to keep on walking.
*Having an opinion and judging are two different things.
Adriana Kantcheva 