How to nurture an open heart and a questing soul

December 31, 2021 9:29 AM

I've had a wonderful few years, acquired a demanding but meaningful and well-paying job and a spouse I adore, finally have enough money to do most of the things I need, etc. All is well. But perhaps predictably, I feel like I've lost some touch with the part of me that creates and quests for understanding. I used to be a freelancer who struggled financially but wrote things that mattered (at least sometimes); now I help others achieve those goals but miss what I felt like was the best part of myself. In 2022 I'd like to awaken my soft heart and open, creative spirit and would love suggestions and stories about how you have done this for yourself. Thanks and happy new year to all.
posted by artisthatithaca to Grab Bag (6 answers total)

It really is the journey, not the destination. The struggle is where we are tested and find out things about ourself, and others, and the world, that we never knew before.

If you want to have that feeling back again, you have to choose a new journey to embark on.
posted by underclocked at 10:28 AM on December 31, 2021 [3 favorites]

Psychodynamic therapy helps me do this. Something about learning the map of my mind, understanding why my shortcomings exist, forgiving myself and important others in my life - it makes me habitually softer and more open in my everyday life too. The attitude seems to spread out rather than stay contained within the work of therapy.
posted by MiraK at 10:35 AM on December 31, 2021

You are in a new phase of life and that’s great! The struggle is not dating nor finances but now meaning. To that end I would spend some time in January in withdrawal and reflection. Dream journals, visualization meditations (you’re walking in a forest, what do you find?), what did you love as a kid? Imagine your life from start till now, what are the themes; continue the vision, where does it go? What set of human problems do you feel you can solve / contribute a solution to the collective understanding? Where can you volunteer to help others? Maybe it’s time to turn outward with the gifts you’ve earned and developed till now.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 11:17 AM on December 31, 2021 [4 favorites]

I'm working on this, too. One thing I'm finding is that I'm so easily distracted now and all the ambient noise and motion of life seems to drown out that quiet little creative voice. And I've discovered, too, that I get decision fatigue from too many choices made per day, even little things.

So I've been removing distractions, one by one. All the streaming subscriptions are gone now and the house is so blissfully silent that I can hear my own heart beating. I've given away half-done projects that felt like less of a calling and more of an obligation. I've started reading fiction again, which I'd loved since a child and which feels like a long conversation with a wise old friend. And I'm getting rid of Stuff. I've started curating things a bit more based on what I actually use daily instead of on what I think I need to keep on hand for situations that are increasingly becoming wildly hypothetical.

And I'm thinking, What do I need, what do I use, what things and situations and thoughts can I remove to uncover what's real underneath?

It's good. It's so good. It's helping.
posted by mochapickle at 12:05 PM on December 31, 2021 [4 favorites]

I'm sort of leaning towards this for my own New Year's Resolution, so I'll be watching this....

I'm kind of leaning on using my physical body as an excuse at first. My knee is almost-but-not-quite recovered from a break, and I am intending to take more walks "for exercise". But really, they're also going to be for the kind of exploring that I am out of practice in after two years of pandemic and even more years of super-tight finances. I'm free of the financial worries that made me want to hide away for a while, the world is going to start opening up again in a couple months, and I've done a fair bit of walking on the trip I'm on right now, so I'm going to keep that up, wandering in further and further rambles from my new apartment and just seeing things.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:16 PM on December 31, 2021

This is exactly what The Artist's Way is for.
posted by betweenthebars at 8:53 PM on December 31, 2021 [1 favorite]