“If you just sit and observe, you will see how restless your mind is. If you try to calm it, it only
makes it worse, but over time it does calm, and when it does, there’s room to hear more subtle things—that’s when your intuition starts to blossom and you start to see things more clearly and be in the present more. Your mind just slows down, and you see a tremendous expanse in the moment. You see so much more than you could see before.It’s a discipline; you have to practice it.”—Steve Jobs
Soul Searcher
By Donna D’Cruz
We all get stuck—for fresh ideas, new pathways, new relationships, innovative solutions, a person’s name. You know the feeling, right? Our usual response—left-brain, Cartesian—is to push, push, push: seek the solution, lean hard into the desire to resolve or to find clarity through the muddiness of cluttered thinking. Rather than muscle our way through, I suggest another route to inspiration. Here are a few quick, hugely efficacious hacks to undamming your creative juices. Ready?
1. Breathe.
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Inhale to the count of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
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Exhale to the count of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
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Repeat twice, or however many times you need until you feel less cluttered
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Then, close your eyes and try it again
6. Get playful
7. Look away from all screens and tablets
8. Invite new ideas
In 2012, Bhutan’s Prime Minister, Jigmi Thinley, delivered a speech to the United Nations that is full of amazing, innovative, bold thinking. I love it so deeply that I feel compelled to share it with you, holding the intention that it seeds wild ideas within you.
His speech was centered around the idea that economic growth is mistakenly equated to happiness and well-being. The global economic system, is, he said, “based on the premise of limitless growth on a finite planet.” In reality, growth is not limitless, and the world we live in will inevitably face both environmental and financial collapse. Additionally, humans are not doing anything to slow down the inevitable collapse; people are producing and consuming at an alarming rate. To combat this problem, Thinley suggested replacing the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) measurement with a new and universal unit of measurement, one that factors happiness into the equation, along with incentives for sustainable production.
Thinley’s ideas are incredibly bold because he is challenging a belief that most people have incorporated into their lives. I agree that our way of looking at economic growth needs to change—doing so would lead to a happier and more equitable society. On a global scale, nothing will be changed overnight, so I think we should all start incorporating this change into our everyday lives at an individual level. We can all practice producing and consuming less, and spreading kindness to ourselves, the people around us, and the environment.
Let this sit with you for a moment. Stop and let your mind ponder what you’ve just read. What do you make of this bold way of thinking? Does it inspire something within you?
Here’s a space for you to think on and write your big. bold and wild ideas.
After writing out your ideas, cut them out and place them on your intention board or fridge—anywhere that you will look at them and be reminded of how limitless your ideas are.
Memorialize your intention. Own it.
Manifest.
Let go.
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