Resonance and Rhythm

This weekend I caught up with my friend Lizzy. She lived in Portland for just a few months, but there was a nearly instant comfort between us. She was telling me about her recent technology fast. I think she was looking for some creative inspiration and decided to fast from nearly all forms of technology. Even her cell phone, I believe. I think she checked email only occasionally for work purposes. Can you imagine? No internet, no cell phone, little to no email. She blogged about what it did for her here.

As I was talking to Lizzy about what it did for her and all her new ideas and plans she has, I was reminded of a quote that I got earlier that day from David. The quote is by James Hollis, an author and Jungian analyst in Houston, Texas. Here it is:

The act of consciousness is central; otherwise, we are overrun by the complexes. The hero in each of us is required to answer the call of individuation. We must turn away from the cacophony of the outerworld to hear the inner voice. When we can dare to live its promptings, then we achieve personhood. We may become strangers to those who thought they knew us, but at least we are no longer strangers to ourselves.

I think fear often gets in the way of listening to and following that inner voice. We get set in roles that are comfortable to us and that people come to expect of us, and we let that dictate how we live our lives instead of shutting out all the voices and just listening to and following that inner voice. It’s amazing what happens when you shed the complexes and roles and expectations of others. You start living according to what you actually believe and according to who you actually are and everything you do starts to have more resonance and rhythm. Try it.