“I see my path, but I don’t know where it leads. Not knowing where I’m going is what inspires me to travel it.” Rosalia de Castro
It is in the space of not knowing that our creativity is released. All we need to do is to hold space for ourselves to allow that opening. The space of not knowing can provide an opportunity to think outside the box.
For me, the space of not knowing doesn’t mean to sit and wait. It is a combination of taking the time to process and raising my hand at opportunities. It is also about paying attention to how my body feels – what are the sensations I am experiencing? Does an opportunity feel light, full of energy, bubbly? Do I suddenly have all kinds of energy or does it feel heavy and sluggish?
Not knowing feels like the crown chakra, feeling part of a much bigger universe. It is not passive. It is an attitude of openness, an attitude of learning, of humility.
Not knowing can also be willing to go through the hard stuff, to feel the pain, do the hard work, not to push it away.
Here is a recent excerpt from my journal writing on this topic:
Not knowing
Eyes and heart wide open
Allowing time for opportunities and direction to emerge
Sense of wonder and curiosity
Getting comfortable with not knowing hasn’t come easy to me. As the child of an alcoholic, I grew up in a home filled with chaos and uncertainty. My response to this was to be a planner, to try to control the chaos by planning and organizing and filling my life to the nth degree. I didn’t allow space for not knowing, because not knowing was scary.
When we have everything planned out, mapped out, there is a danger of missing that whisper of possibility. We can miss out on opportunities to grow and learn and thrive.
Over the past two years I have worked on learning to let go and to be more comfortable and curious about not knowing. My experience has been that the more I open to this state of being, the easier life seems to flow.
My next book is about learning to live from a heart centred perspective. It is about heart listening and spending time in that space of not knowing. As with my first two books, I will share my process of journaling and abstract design of my hand hooked mats. It will be part memoir, as it will be about my learning to live from this perspective. I will share practical tips and invitations to create so readers can begin to explore their own life-changing process.
Have you had the opportunity to sit in a place of not knowing? How does it feel to you? Do you have any practical tips for creating and maintaining a space of not knowing? I’d love to hear from you.
