20 minutes to your life purpose

am going to wander off here in a moment and do this activity, will report back results within the hour. if you choose to play may the epiphanies roll out and create clarity and bliss!

Blogger Steve Pavlina says that you can discover your life’s purpose in as little as twenty minutes. To do so, complete the following four steps:

1. Take out a blank sheet of paper or open up a word processor where you can type.
2. Write at the top, “What is my true purpose in life?”
3. Write an answer (any answer) that pops into your head. It doesn’t have to be a complete sentence. A short phrase is fine.
4. Repeat step 3 until you write the answer that makes you cry. This is your purpose.

Steve writes that “usually it takes 15-20 minutes to clear your head of all the clutter and the social conditioning about what you think your purpose in life is” and that you should expect to generate some repeats or similar answers. All this is fine so long as you keep on writing, even if your answers begin to resemble variations on “I don’t have a purpose” or “Life is meaningless”.

Also, it’s not enough to react emotionally to an answer, according to Pavlina. You need to keep going until the emotion brings forth tears. If you feel the urge to quit, take a two minute break and then resume. According to the post, around 80-90 percent of those who try this method will reach their answer in less than an hour.

so what did I learn?

I learned that I can fill an entire 12x18 piece of paper FULL of things in 25 minutes.

That I did not cry as the above said I might, but I believe that is mainly because I have done various forms of this exercise for the past 10 years and that I have cried about a billion tears over this so maybe I am less emotive.

I learned that when I follow the pull--that is where juicy things come up to be moved

Here are the top 5 that pulled me, made me stop after writing them and almost evoked tears:

to feel

to believe in impossible things and delight and celebrate their arrival into the world

to love deeply with my whole being and allow myself to be loved that deeply

to be a faerie on earth

to overcome money as a limitation

this is what i know

a list created when trying to come to terms with life and it's challenges:

pain keeps people sedentary and craving safety
reflexology interrupts pain
i can read most anything
i can seek out and find information
i am creative
looking for miracles can make them appear
everyone is struggling with something at some level
tarot cards can trigger solutions in your subconscious
when you look for beautiful things, sometimes you find them
stuckness arises to slow you down and teach you about Fear. Self. Doubt. Pain.
the period following stuck is usually packed with joy and movement.
people think i am a faerie.

always searching

i have a couple of amazing friends and clients who are playing at the job search thing. as i was weeding in my garden yesterday i had all these conversations in my head... there is no way i can recreate the event in an intelligent conversation so i am just going to put my rambly thoughts here.

statement overheard: i don't fit in, i don't look like what anyone wants

first off my heart breaks, i am so sorry that this experience has triggered so much pain. i hear you and i ache to comfort that piece.

second i truly don't believe this is a handicap unless you make it one. why would you want to be a bland horrid job description. i understand you think this is what the company is seeking because that is what the company thinks it's seeking but really it's not. the company is asking for a boring list of blah in the attempts to weed people out and clarify aspects of the job it needs fulfilled. what a delight to know that you can also do a,b and c.

the stuck seems to be getting past your initial resistance. being willing to bend the rules. being willing to shine. being willing to claim what you do know, and can do, and how you can make their lives better by showing up to work every day.

so what if you are mediocre at this, what about how you did that and made life better for someone.

no you don't look like the job description.

because you are so much more.

yes, that makes you look different but how can you re-frame different in your mind to not be BAD because that is what it feels like. it feels like you believe different is bad. and i would argue adamantly that different is what will set you apart. and makes you a highly desirable and sought after prospective employee. (but you know this inside)

know that what you have to offer and your amazing life experiences are unique and insightful. claim them instead of looking at them as a hindrance. because if you can't claim those things in joy no one else will either.

bend the description to encompass you, see past the words to the essence of the job, and claim your unique life and skill set. stop using it as a crutch. own it and make it work for you.

those companies need you, you don't need them. find your inner superhero and let them fill out your resume.

statement: i'm not worth as much money

i hear the pain, the insecurity and the hurt but i need to call bull shit.

i want to acknowledge and cuddle that fear voice and allow it to sit in this most difficult place. i want to say i hear you, and i am sorry that the world is so scary and hard. that things will be ok, and that you are worth so much more.

money is not a reflection of what you have to offer this world.

and if you get over the belief that the skills you have to offer are worth nothing, well then hopefully you can attract a job where good money can be made.

don't fall victim to our societies warped sense of worth. you are worth way more than anyone could ever pay you. we barter our skills for money so that we may change the world. know this, figure out how much it takes to change the world in the ways you desire and allow the money to seek you out.

your job is only one of the ways in which you can engage with money. so don't worry if it's not paying you more than basic needs.

statement: i have nothing lined up... i have no idea what to pursue.

ahhh i so so dislike this place of scarcity and fear.

to sit here in this place is so terrifying. i see this and have felt this and know it's a place i loath. so i hear you, but my own discomfort with this place is so huge that i push you away so as not to trigger those feelings within myself.

so just for a moment i will sit here and inhabit this pain. and with tears running down my face i will share this uncertainty that taints everything... this hopelessness and fear, this self loathing.

and i will pray and ask to find grounding, and try to remember to breathe.

and from this dark place i will send you a little light in the hopes that it can begin to illuminate your way.

as i sit with and acknowledge my own pain may it be a catalyst to allow others to sit in theirs. for when we allow the hopelessness to encompass us, we find amazing strength, clarity and a stronger hope than we ever knew possible.

in most cases when we sit with our darkness it does not entirely consume us... although sometimes it does for a long while. there may be a lot to process. be gentle.

your talents, skills and what you have to offer this world are immense. i hold for each of you that you can begin to see this and that you can claim a little piece of the easy life while you continue your growth.

there is nothing about seeking a job that is about the job.

please remember you are valuable, unique in all this world and loved. the only reason you need a job is so that you can continue your growth. in all ways our jobs allow us to continue to work on ourselves and our ability to be in relationship.

please feel free to break all the rules. to shine. and to claim your heart, for although you might think it unnecessary it is required, if you can't give your heart to the job there is no point.

all of you are so amazing. may you see this, even if it is just through my eyes.

Announcement

Tarot parties rock your house...

Do you need some guidance? Stuck? Need a nudge in the right direction?

Did you know the images in Tarot cards can trigger your subconscious mind to seek out positive solutions to your worries and stuck-ness?

A Tarot Party is a new offering here at Barefoot Phoenix. The idea behind it is to gather a group of people who need a little nudge, allowing them to seek clarity in a fun causal environment without the cost of a individual session.

Rates vary but a start at $150 for an hour. In that time 10 people can get detailed information about how to move forward.

YES!

except from The Art of Non-Conformity

In the Rock-Paper-Scissors game of life, every day we have endless choices.

Door A or B, blue or red pill, etc. Here are a few suggestions:

1. Hope beats fear
2. Abundance beats scarcity
3. Yes beats no

That thing you’re working on today – will it matter one year from now? If so, great. Keep doing that. If not, why are you doing it?

dusting off the blog

whoa! it has been too long my friends and my blog has gathered a wee bit o dust.

i have been trying to think of something brilliant to say and have finally come up with a recent personal story that pertains to my work/life/ability to function balance.

that story is all about water.

and it's amazingness and how unamazing it is to not have enough of it.

so it's the 4th of july here in seattle. i'm helping a friend at a wedding. it's 80 degrees. it's downtown on the waterfront on the roof.

i know all this cause i was there the day before helping out.

so event day... drank lots cause knew in the stress of events water is hard to stop for.

what none of us expected was for vendor dude with mandap (this was an Indian wedding and i am not sure i spelled that right) to be 1.5 hours late. which meant extra time in sun trying to do everything before he came then do it all when he finally arrived then sit through long wedding then take down decor.

i think i sweat out 3 gallons of water.

so sunday i'm sore and weird like my body hurts like i have the flu. hot and cold are all off. i'm going to the bathroom all the time.

i honestly didn't really think anything was wrong until i had to drive to bothell. then i knew i was very very wrong and should most definitely not be driving this vehicle but what to do now.

but i made it there and i made it back home.

then i drank tea, and sparkling mineral water and water and had chicken soup and proceeded to try and reconstitute my severely dehydrated cells.

today is much, much better but still a bit of wonky and still an excess of bathroom breaks. (which is confusing as to why your body would flush liquid when it needs it but it has something to do with salt (electrolyte) mineral balance and your bodies toxicity-if you know this stuff i'd love to have it explained)

water is key. stay hydrated my friends because summer is no fun when you feel wonky.

water is life.