#001 - Releasing Resolution
These days, as lights go down, some voices get louder.
“If only…”
“when finally….”
“once I/he/she will, then…”
Sometimes, we go through periods characterised by a (more or less conscious) constant tension towards something… else.
An allegedly better set of circumstances, a better state — of mind, heart, resources, relationships, work… and so on.
When I think about the power to create impact, to grow ourselves and/or our projects individually while nourishing what’s around us, I consider it a dimension of creativity.
The Creation of shared value, giving shape to something that we (fore)see where others see only thin air. And while we often hear that creativity needs a state of flow, I personally believe that before the (always temporary) state of flow, creativity needs presence.
Real presence.
The capacity to connect so deeply with the right-here-right-now that it unlocks details, connections and ideas that would remain otherwise unseen by the frantic mind.
And what’s the opposite of presence? The hunger for resolution.
It’s a craving, an impatient desire to escape what is, to reach that which we (intellectually) believe “would make everything be ok”.
Because behind our tension for resolution there is the belief that all is not how it should be.
This could be X. If only the Y thing happened. Oh, when/if I had Z.
And don’t get me wrong, I’m right there with you.
It’s February 2021. Most of us are still living under heavy constraints. It would almost be weird if we did not feel a tension towards a state of relief, of resolution, of “I just want this to be over“.
But as we gain the awareness of this tension, and when we (I hope, quickly and effectively) move beyond the shame and guilt of “I should not feel like that, this is not good presence”… what is left?
What we do with it.
Can we observe our craving for resolution? Can we invite this feeling to sit, figuratively, by our side, and tell us what is “there“, what’s about that “other, better state” that would make the difference and why can’t we find it or create in the right-here-right-now?
When we live from a place of hunger for resolution, we:
- project our power and agency onto something that doesn’t even exist, an ideal and imaginary future
- create, perceive reality and take decisions from a place of scarcity, discomfort, judgment towards what’s laid in front of us, profound frustration
- start treating people, things and circumstances as enemies because they are “not aligning with that which we want so badly and it’s so much better than what is right here, right now”.
- When we release the need for resolution, we’re left with what is. And in my experience, there’s always something right in front of our nose that is waiting for us to engage with it, apply it, explore it, put it to service. An ultimate call for impact, on ourselves and other(s).
So… Can we release?
Can we liberate ourselves from this tension and, by doing so, liberate others too?
And remember, everything is an invite. These times are no exception.
Happy February.
~M
