I'm getting on a 13 hour flight to Taiwan for my grandmother's funeral tonight. it's a strange day to write about sex, creativity, and passion, but I'll keep it simple.
thinking about my creative work and following my passions, especially in light of the challenges I've experienced along the way, there's a steve jobs quote that comes to mind:
“Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.”
work and love go together. the reason sex, creativity, money, passion, and even power go together in the second chakra, which is housed in the genitalia/lower abdomen area, is that it's the seat of life force. in Chinese, it's called life fire.
it makes sense, right? the energetic place from which we create, houses the seat of our deepest desires as well as our deepest fears and wounds.
the burning question is, what are you doing with your life force?
when I feel both passion and fear - the drive to move forward and the fear of vulnerability that goes with it, I know I'm on the right track in dealing to my life force.
and the shadow side of life, is if course death. but facing that fear can actually release us by putting things into perspective. my favorite steve jobs quote of all time is this one:
“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”
I take a certain amount of shit for being prone to passion and perhaps overly idealistic. I take a certain amount of pride in staying clear on what I consider to be a larger perspective. and I do what I can every day to honor my creative force and move through the fear that comes with vulnerability.