Reinventing Life At the Threshold of a New Year

Each of us, from time to time, have private conversations with ourselves. Some of these conversations touch us to our core, as if we had connected with some fundamental, even sacred truth about ourselves – about the meaning and direction of our lives. Mostly these insights are fleeting and are too easily displaced by day-to-day routines and concerns.

Periodically, usually because of some life changing circumstance, the conversations are nagging, urgent, and disturbing. Disturbing, mostly because the questions that are surfaced at these times seem to be unanswerable: where is my life going? What do I do next that will give me a sense of meaning and some joy? What's the point of my life? What do I want? What will make me happy and give me a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment? How am I supposed to express my leadership and have people follow me when I am unclear where I am going and what I am up to?

These are not easy questions with ready answers. Google, Wikipedia and all our usual sources of ready responses to questions are not going to help with these questions. Because the answers to these fundamental meaning and purpose questions are so illusive we often abandon them – leave them unaddressed – and just get on with what's in front of us each day. But the questions inevitably return – and the start of a new year is just one of those times when we re-look at meaning, mission and direction – as we wrestle with answering the perennial year end question, "what am I committed to for 2012, what am I going to accomplish?".

Brain science tells us that we know things – unconsciously know, intuitively know, see sense and feel know – before our rational minds knows that we know. We have all had experiences that validate what science is now beginning to explain for us. So, informed by no more than that, how do we access our unconscious knowing about these important questions?

For a start run some experiments. But first, put the rational mind, that internal editor, that judger and evaluator that always want to chip in with a critique – put it on hold. We don't want to get any input or feedback from that source for some time!

First experiment: get yourself a God Jar a really beautiful and inspiring one like this one. Take a leaf out out Julia Cameron's book, The Vein of Gold and write brief notes – one note for each thought – about: what you want, what you love, what you want to do with your life, the difference you want to make, what you are passionate about, who you want in your life ... Cover every aspect of your life – and no editing.

Write the notes as if you were sending prayers aloft. And notice the themes that particularly excite you or capture your imagination.

Don't worry yet about action plans, or goals and objectives – they will be cold water for the spirit of imagination and creativity.

In parallel, the second experiment is also designed to capture the subconscious sacred yearnings and bring them to consciousness. This one, in parallel with the God Jar, uses a Moleskine notebook like this one.

In this iteration of surfacing the subconscious yearnings we write them in the notebook – writing from front to back – just short phrases or a word to two to capture what it is. Again, no editing. Just to be sure the internal editor is off duty add something you know is a bit – out there.

To keep the part of our mind that wants to look at issues and obstacles occupied and satisfied, capture these thoughts too – this time writing in the book from back to front. 

Again, just short phrases or a word or two to capture what it is. Again, no editing.

From time to time look at what you have put in the God Jar and what you have written in the Moleskine notebook and discard those items that you clearly do not intend to do anything about, or are clearly pipe-dreams. For me, replace my car with a Bentley Flying Spur Speed is one in my pipe-dream category – not the wildest one, but one.  

Paradoxically, without doing any action planning or goal setting, you will begin to notice that actions are being changed, new interests are being engaged with, historical complaints do get resolved or just disappear. 

Just the regular practice of connecting with our sacred yearnings and putting notes about them in the God Jar and writing notes in the Moleskine notebook, makes it possible for us to access our subconscious knowing about what we are passionate about and the mission of our lives.