Finding Clarity

Let’s start this post with an easy question since your brain may be quaran-tired.

Here goes:

Have you ever had something come out of your mouth that you didn’t even know you thought or knew until you actually said the words during a conversation with someone else or yourself**?

Or, have you ever been randomly writing in your journal and you wrote something and you were like, “Where the heck did that come from?”

And the words stop you because this wise thing, this insight, this inspiration just sort of popped out of you, and you weren’t even trying, and you don’t know where it came from.

You weren’t currently wrestling with a problem, banging your head against the wall in frustration with yourself over what to do, or where to go, or how to handle situation X or Y or P.

You were just in the moment.

And an idea, a solution, a thought, an answer, a next step to take…arrived.

That, my friends, is what happens when we get the heck out of our own way and open the door to our inner wisdom. She appears and begins to hold our hand and guide us.

And it’s SO much fun.

Janet Conner and I talked all about how this happens on the page in a podcast episode devoted to soul writing, and in this week’s episode, I talked about how to explore & refine your ideas with others, get clarity, and ask questions and connect through creative idea partnerships and speaking thoughts out loud.

Though they’re quite different, both soul writing and idea partnerships start with the same thing…intention: to receive guidance, clarity, or understanding.

One is done solo on the page. The other is done in groups with intentional conversation.

With either, there is no promise that the guidance you will get will be easy to follow or will even make sense at first, but the place we start any practice, whether it’s a creative practice or a spiritual practice or even a healthy practice like exercise, is with the intention.

The intention to connect and understand, and doing it regularly has been a gift to myself.

** Yes, I admit it. I talk to myself all the time, sometimes even out loud. My kids tease me relentlessly about this, but my response has always been, “Hey, if you can’t talk to yourself, who CAN you talk to? Might as well keep the conversation going!!”