In this first day of The Artist’s Way Week Five: Recovering a Sense of Possibility, Julia Cameron guides me through an extensive exploration of the self-imposed limitations that are blocking me from receiving more abundance and restricting me from my true potential growth.

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Recovering a Sense of Possibility

It seems fitting that this week is about recovering a sense of possibility – the same week we start the wealth mastermind. Recovering a sense of possibility is mostly about acknowledging that with God as our Source, we have an endless supply of abundance available to us, and we just need to “shake some trees” and be open to the possibility that the fruit that falls may not be what we expected to see. It feels like God is preparing me for action – not just what I’ve called being actively patient, but actually obtaining enough clarity to begin some low-level strategizing and taking calculated action.

Cameron profoundly shares the reality of how achieving our goals (as creatives or otherwise) starts with a conscious clearing away of the negative programming so familiar to us so we can clarify the vision of our truest desires, and learn to accept these little pockets of clarity in a gradual process. Then one day, we look up and the full vision seems to suddenly appear before us. It’s like that corner of the puzzle I mentioned last week gradually expanding to show the full picture.

Releasing the Belief that Growth Must Be Linear

She also shares how so often when we feel like we are limited in what is possible for our lives, it’s because we insist on the source of fulfillment being a specific person or opportunity. We think we already know so much and conclude where our answers will come from before they ever arrive. Cameron says that we “must learn to let the flow manifest itself where it will – not where we we will it.”

An example in my life of doing this is easy to find. One way I did this when I first exited my business was assuming that my “next chapter” would be an extension of the work I’ve been doing in the virtual assistant and delegation space. I assumed that the last ten years of my career must have something to do with the next ten years. I had already finished my book on delegation but had yet to publish it, so naturally, I finished that project and shared it with the world. But, I assumed a linear path that used these past experiences as building blocks, and I assumed this expertise would be the source of whatever my next work would entail.

Over six months of following the thread of that assumption since my exit, I have repeatedly lost interest in my ideas because I struggled to feel aligned with my authenticity and the work. I have been limiting myself by trying to force this thread of connection to flow linearly from my expertise in delegation and business leadership into my next vocation.

Until now, I haven’t admitted to myself how much I have changed in terms of my thoughts, words, and beliefs or given myself permission to start something completely new. I hadn’t admitted to myself that climbing a ladder rung by rung is not the only way to grow.

And simultaneously, I’ve been trying to appear smart and worldly rather than spiritual or woo woo. Last week, I mused about “what will they think of me?”, and expressed fear when I consider some of the ideas I’ve had for what I might do with my life from here. I’ve had thoughts of doing work that, in its weirdest forms, leans very spiritual, and in its most “acceptable” forms is artistic or embedded in Eastern medicine, which to most of the Western world is still viewed as spiritual and woo woo, particularly when these things are labeled as “work” versus a “hobby.”

Holding An Attitude of Gentle Exploration + Faithful Action

Recovering a sense of possibility requires me to release this need to be accepted, admired, and viewed as a put-together, successful worker bee. It requires me to let go of preconceived thoughts of where the source of my fulfillment will come from. And most of all, recovering a sense of possibility requires me to attune my heart to my inner compass for creative ideas, and then take concrete steps toward earnest exploration of those ideas without fear of being seen or heard.

Cameron says that “by holding lightly to an attitude of gently exploration, we can begin to lean into creative expansion.” Curiosity is a key element of waking up my inner artist, but faithful action is equally important for becoming the person I desire to be.

This is why the Morning Pages (Daily Pages) are so critical to this process. Writing from the stream of consciousness within breaks apart outdated beliefs and short-sightedness. This is why I say that the Pages are the place we tell ourselves the truth. Journaling every day and doing occasional journal lookbacks helps me see the difference between fleeting or short-term thoughts, moods, and opinions and the true desires of my heart – the real constants in this current within me that will move me toward my destiny. With the help of the Daily Pages, I am beginning to see what ideas are calling for faithful action to cooperate with God’s plan. In the words of one of my favorite artists, Toni Jones:

God’s plans hit differently. So I’m a just know I ain’t gotta do all the planning. I let the Great I Am do the heavy lifting. ~ Toni Jones

(Here’s the song if you want to listen.)

As I explore my self-imposed limits and what Cameron calls the Virtue Trap this week, I commit to taking faithful action on at least one of my ideas for earning income. I’ll share how this is going in a few days.

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