Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Let it just be

I've rewritten the opening sentence to this blog entry at least five times, and I can commit to myself that this time I will let it just be. A good lesson for life, sometimes, is to let it just be. As with all of our lives, we have complexities that we keep private until the appropriate time to share our successes and failures. In large part, that is the reason why I haven't written a blog entry in a while. 


Instead, I'll focus on what I can write about: the other day my husband gently asked me to put down the mindless game I was playing on Facebook and get back into writing my haikus. I'd set a goal for myself, back in April, to have 100 haikus before the Dallas Forth Worth Writers' conference I attended in late May. I had hoped to have these ready to pitch to an agent and be swooped up and published. Needless to say, I didn't have my 100 haikus for the conference, but I did have 25. That number stayed pretty stagnant until an agent I met at the conference asked how my haiku book was coming (she expressed interest in seeing it), and I got excited again! I've written around 50 haikus now, and I'd like to have another 50 before I send in my formal query letter to her. 


I don't know about you, but sometimes when we establish an idea in our heads as "important" to us but then we lose track of the project or goal, there's value in looking at why it is no longer as important. It was hard for me to be in the space of joy and creativity to write these funny little poems when I was feeling overwhelmed and unsure about life. There was too much chaos to write the zen of the haiku. I needed quiet, direction and some inner peace.


I've found a lot more inner contentment in the past two weeks, and it has freed me up to get passionate again. In fact, in a moment of synchronicity, as I sat in the Starbucks with my haiku prep notes splayed out and furiously writing, a coach friend called and we ended up talking about what our life's purpose is. I believe that my life's purpose, and the thing that makes me so happy is to bring people joy, and to see joy in others.


In my profession as a coach, I can magically see and hear the potential in people's souls and I am grateful I am an instrument to magnify the joy in their lives. As a stand up comedian, to make people laugh is truly a gift. Maybe someone has had a bad day or is going through a difficult time in their lives, but for a few minutes, they are accessing the joy within. Or maybe it is as simple as a slice of my homemade strawberry rhubarb pie that brings them joy, a memory of their childhood and grandmas long since passed.

In this moment, I am content and letting life be whatever it will be. And making sure that my life's purpose, to bring joy to everyone, is the path I am setting out for myself.

What is your life's purpose? How are you living it today?

2 comments:

  1. Am glad that you posted this... I'm at a crossroads myself, and not sure which direction (or sub-direction) to take.... we can catch up on chat sometime... maybe you can throw a haiku my way - as well as your collection - on the subject of "retirement"... smile. Leany

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  2. Beautifully thought out and written post, Jean. I'm so glad you're moving forward with your haiku book and using your skills as a life coach in the process. I see great things in your future!

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