The creative energy where your work comes from is a place of peace, happiness, love, and clarity. But if you don't understand yourself or where you're coming from, then it's difficult to access it.
But we can get there by asking ourselves questions; here are some of those questions.
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Create work that's true to you
What are you good at?
One aspect of finding your authentic voice is to find out what you’re good at. It is often said that mastery can lead to enlightenment (of who you are). Finding out what you’re good at may help you in realizing your potential, in what you here on earth for.
What do you love doing?
A question I keep going back to is asking what you love doing. Disregard money, status, power, other people’s judgments, your own judgments even. Then think back to a moment, maybe as a kid, where you were so enthralled with something you were doing that you completely lost time. When you find that, you find a core part of who you are. And after that, if you can bring it into your daily life, you really live true to yourself.
What do you feel is true about you and what isn’t?
We all have assumptions about ourselves, many of which have been placed upon us by our society, by our parents, friends, family, and teacher. Have you ever taken the time to ask yourself which of these feel true and which don’t? Why, why not? Maybe you are not really who you think you are? Maybe you have gifts that you’re not using because your assumption about yourself doesn’t align with your true self?
What do you fear most?
Oftentimes what we fear most is related to what we (secretly) aspire to. As fear and love are opposites, you might even say that you should just pursue the opposite of what you fear most. This is a little too short of a conclusion, probably, but you get the idea. Say you’ve always feared what people would think of you when you’d write a book, letting out your creative juices. Maybe you fear it because you fear the rejection by others of something that is truly you, the part that wants to write creative stuff.
How are you filling your God-shaped hole within you?
As humans, we have an innate need to seek meaning. This God-shaped hole is something we can fill with all kinds of things, in the past it was mainly through religion, for example. But nowadays, in a relatively Godless society, we fill it more and more with political ideologies, status, money, and power. I think it’s key to figure out how you are currently filling that God-shaped hole and see if there’s a better way. I.e., what is it that you get meaning out of in life and is actually a contribution to yourself and others?
What would you regret not having done?
You're looking back on your life when you’re on your deathbed at 99. What comes to mind when you ask that question to yourself? It’s probably not “I regret not having made $5 million instead of $1 million” (at least I hope so). What is it that you would absolutely regret NOT having done when you’re talking to your grandkids on your deathbed? Is it writing that book? Creating a business? Raising a family? Living in another country? So what is it?
There are many other points within these themes that I want to (and will!) cover. But I feel these are the Big™ ones!
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