Knock Knock…..It Is Your Soul Calling
In our Western world, we forgot about essential initiations that lead us to a grander, more meaningful way of being—ways that lead us to our unique calling.
I have to think of a Vision Quest that Lakota Indians undertake at a young age and later in life when needed. In these quests, young tribe members try to open a door to the spiritual world to find their path in life.
Our lives have become like a ‘Standard Game of Security building.’ This is a term that I borrowed from Bill Plotkin’s great book Soulcraft.
In this shallow way of living, we reduce our lives to comfort and security. We no longer recognize our own depth and connection to others, nature, animals, and earth, as a whole. We also stop taking risks out of fear of losing our comfort and security.
I think we are scared to embrace the uncertainty of life in general. But what is this uncertainty really? And what makes it so scary?
Don’t call it uncertainty, call it to wonder. Don’t call it insecurity, call it freedom. — Osho
As Osho once said, uncertainty is really the quality of wonder. There is nothing wrong with uncertainty.
The free dictionary defines ‘to wonder’ as follows:
To be filled with admiration, amazement, or awe; marvel
We all know the moments when we are filled with awe or amazement. Take a minute and think of a moment where life just swept you off your feet.
I can think of so many moments, as a child, where I was just in awe of nature—the beauty, its unbelievable and unforgiving powers, and its rhythms. I am still in awe of nature.
In an article called “Embrace Your Feelings of Insecurity,” I wrote about the deeper meaning of insecurity.
At its core it really is the pure state of not knowing.
Osho calls it freedom. For me, these are different ways to describe the open state of being. When we dare to be in a state of not knowing, we are totally free.
How did we get here?
In our modern life, and with our scientific way of looking at things, we have tried to define everything. We ‘fixed’ our lives so that it became controllable.
But problems arise as soon as we try to define life. They are problems because we use force to hold on to things, but life is always changing and transforming and therefore never stays the same. Holding on to life as we think we know it, is like trying to grab water with our hands.
We have to admit that, at its core, life is one big mystery. It is always fleeting and unknown.
To enter the mystery, we have to let go of the known definitions and images we have of ourselves and our world. These definitions and images are not the things themselves; they merely point to them.
We need initiations to enter this world of the unknown depths; our soul’s depths. But there are no initiations anymore in our modern world. What’s left are stories and movies about (super)heroes and going against the grain to follow your own dream and calling. Of course, all these personas and heroes portray ourselves and our own struggles. We can all relate to the (super)hero, but in real life, it is not so easy to embody this hero.
We are not encouraged by our culture to follow our soul’s calling. It is sad to see how many problems arise out of not listening to or recognizing this calling. I think of depression, staying in dull jobs, and a lack of intimacy with your surroundings.
Often we try to mute the symptoms that point to these problems. We mute them with medication, addictions, buying unnecessary things, and seeking validation and answers outside ourselves.
It is a scary thing to go down the lonely road when your soul is calling. We have to travel alone and on our own.
There are many risks down that road; risks of being ridiculed or laughed at. People that just don’t ‘get’ you. There is the risk of standing on your own. We don’t want that, we want to blend in.
Finding your own way means creating an original life for yourself, not a copy and paste life from what you see in your surroundings and culture at large.
But maybe the biggest risk is accepting and embracing your wild nature. To surrender yourself to the raw and sensual energy that your soul emits. This pure love and lust for life that seems out of control. And that scares us. It is out of control because it is free in and of itself.
So, what will happen?
Maybe we will find our own autonomy. Beyond validation and approval from others. Beyond conforming and seeking acceptance.
Maybe for the first time, we will find our original and unique voice. Maybe we will find a pure love for life. Maybe we will find new energy that propels us to do things we really love.
Wouldn’t that be great? Trusting our own calling and, therefore trusting it in the world around us. In that way, we can start to lead the way—a way where we show that it is essential to follow your soul’s calling. A way where we become vibrant, alive, and free; where we soar!
We can create an original life where our way of living is based on life-affirming principles of our soul—on love!
Follow your soul’s calling!
Thank you for reading. I really hope that something in this article resonates with you. I am curious what that is. Let me know in a comment what you think and feel!
