It doesn’t matter if you’re a Christian, a Buddhist, or an atheist… we all have this part of us that just wants to create and express ourselves completely. What we call that part of ourselves really doesn’t matter—people get so caught up trying to name things that they completely miss the point. All that matters is that we connect to that place inside and allow ourselves to get lost in our creativity so we can bring something beautiful into the world.
The problem is, the world has taught us not to connect to that place; instead, we’re trained to connect to everything but that place. We’re supposed to connect to the television, the news, the brands and the society that has tricked us into believing that we’re not enough as we are… and so we get caught in the cycle of trying to find love outside of ourselves in the form of food, money, superficial relationships, clothes, cars, and autographed Back to the Future posters … that last one is probably more me than you, but you get the point.
When we were kids, we didn’t care about any of that crap because we lived in the knowing that “You are what you love, not what loves you.”
When we were kids we just played and did what we loved to do. We created. We danced and sang all day. We didn’t care what people thought about us or what our ex-girlfriend was doing. We were totally free and pretended that we were fireman or astronauts or veterinarians. Our imagination was limitless and our creativity is what was running us. We were living from in to out. As time went on, we learned from society to shut off the oil well of possibilities that lived inside of us and to start moving from out to in. We learned that we can’t do the things that we want to do and that it’s “not that easy.” We learned that there’s not enough to go around and that the only way to feel security in this world is to get as much as possible and hold on to it as tight as you can.
Instead of working on getting as much as we can externally, what if we were focused on growing as much as we can internally? What if we were able to go back to that child-like state where we were filled with wonder and possibility and the desire to play full-out? What if we could step out of the box the world has put us in and realize that life is just one big playground of opportunity? What if you could let go of the results and allow life to lead you into a life that’s even more amazing and fulfilling than you could have ever planned?
Well, you can. Start to enjoy the process of working on yourself. Start to find your own inner fulfillment instead of external distraction. Start acting on what is exciting to you in the moment instead of what you’re supposed to do.
You are what you love, not what loves you.
-Kyle Cease