Yesterday my friend and I were petsitting a dog. It was funny to watch it sad and totally devastated as the owner left the house. Was similar to the kids when they are taken to the kindergarten and think that their mom will never come back and they’ll have to stay in that environment forever.
It’s funny how just one thought can put you into such an emotional state, almost feeling like you’re gonna die. My friend and I knew that the owner will come back at a certain time and that there is no logical reason to be upset. But the dog was stuck in that belief and suffered for quite a while. Blinded by the pain of abandonment couldn’t even see all the things available around, people who could play with and have a good time.
How often are we so blinded? We see just one possible solution, just that one way of things working out. We focus on one wanted person, one certain job, exactly that one place we are gonna live. An imaginary tunnel with just one goal at the end that prevents us to see the wider perspective and so many options.
If you decide to leave a job, your first thought is the security, I won’t have the regular income, I will lose my coworkers as friends, what will my parents say, what if I lose this or that. But are there other options? What if you discover your dream job, great new people, maybe take some time off and meet amazing partner while travelling to a workshop to another country. There are limitless possible stories that can become reality.
Sometimes we focus only on one thing, but can’t even notice everything available around us.
Like that dog focused only on the thought ‘my owner left me and it’s not coming back’. Not only that this is was a total lie, because he couldn’t see the whole situation. All that time being in emotional pain, body stress, waiting-mode, kept him away from experiencing a new place, new people and new amazing stuff that were available in that moment.
It’s normal to express sadness, grief, anger when you feel it, but choosing that as a long-term pattern robs us enjoying life and what it has to offer in every single moment. Can we look around, really see the opportunities around us and have it all? Can we really take in that maybe if we would step a few steps away from our situation, look it from the distance and notice all the other circumstances just waiting there to support us in a totally new amazing way?
The same thing happens on the canvas, sometimes when feeling stuck, you just need to step away, see the whole painting from a distance and then decide what works for you and what doesn’t. I actually recommend doing that often in any creative process. Sometimes I just sit for a while and observe the artwork until I start downloading new ideas to my mind and return back with clarity about my next step.
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