After I’d written four non-fiction books, I was ready for the next challenge: a novel. However, I never got to actually doing it. I cheerfully kept on postponing the daunting task until I ran into my old boss. This legendary copywriter was (just like me) pathetically dreaming about writing a novel instead of actually doing it. I decided to cast aside my many excuses and started the next day.
Open to receive
What I’ve discovered while writing my novel is that creating is more about being open to receiving than forcefully working to realise an idea. I have experienced that the idea for a story (or for a painting, sculpture, wood carving, weaving or even an app) is already out there and simply wants to be manifested. Ideas are searching for the right instrument that will help them transform into a tangible form.
Ready for the real deal
For the story of my novel I apparently was that right instrument. After 25 years of intense training – writing ads, brochures, magazine and newspaper articles, web content and non-fiction books – my novel’s story decided to choose me to help her manifest in the world of the human senses. First she directed me to mindfulness, showed me ego’s endless collection of tricks, made me aware of the sacred creative space beyond ego, kneaded, moulded, strengthened in the hottest of fires, cast, sanded, then polished and honed my skill until – boom! – it was ready for the real deal.
Instrument
I believe that each of us is an instrument for the ideals which need to manifest, for the ideas in search of their material shape, and for the events that wish to happen in our earthly life. Just as Pablo Picasso was an instrument to touch people’s hearts with his art… and just as Nelson Mandela was an instrument to enlightened his people and lead them to freedom… so are you an instrument for an idea that longs to be manifested.
Stop asking the wrong question
But how can you possibly know what idea, ideal or event is waiting for you to receive it, shape it and then materialise it? It’s quite simple: stop asking yourself What do I want with my life? That’s not going to help you, since instruments don’t want anything for themselves. They only want to serve and give the energy of the idea a tangible form. So look what it is that you already do with joy and contentment. It’s that occupation, profession, hobby or activity that comes naturally to you, that energises and makes time fly. Maybe for you it’s cooking beautiful meals, helping clients with your business services, motivating employees, teaching children or designing homes.
Natural assignment
That what you do effortlessly and what makes you happy – even if it’s cleaning the bathroom – is something you have to acknowledge, no matter how high or low it ranks on the social status ladder. The more you move along with it, the better it is. Have faith
that you are the chosen one to fulfil this task. Once you’ve been found by the idea, you’ll notice that yes, you’ll need to work for it, but it will be an incredibly fulfilling process. So please don’t walk away from it but embrace it. Today. Because this is your natural assignment. And that’s why it feels so good.
n Marisa Garau is a mindfulness expert who has lived in Mangawhai since 2007. If you love historical fiction, her 5-star rated novel ‘Faith and Fearlessness’ is available from Amazon under her alias MC Thomas.