The Anti Aha! Moment

The Anti Aha! Moment

The anti Aha! moment

It seems like everyone is looking for the right time. The right spark of inspiration or a happening revelations that jettisons them in the right direction towards progressing to a goal or riding an idea out fully. Is the right time ever here? It seems like the right time fully impregnated with wonder and ecstasy comes in times where we certainly don’t expect it.

Waiting. Expecting. Spectating. Anticipating. All these stem from the desire to achieve and escape from what is.

Ambition can be a special type of poison. To seek the reward, to be motivated and inspired to do the right thing. The right thing at the right time. We want to be special and gifted. Showered with treasures from the universe. The human orientation to be accepted as one of the Tribe.

So we work. We get out hands dirty with obligations and labors of love. We stumble like we should. Happening upon unexpected fruits of our own self interests and chore like habits. We creatures of habit get caught up in the acts of what we are doing while simultaneously caught in a hypnotic psychosis held within the stage of our own worrisome heads. Worrying about the past misgivings and future chores we must complete. A rush of anxiety sweeps our concentration and pulls us from the sanctimonious actions of cleaning our rooms and doing the dishes. How fantastically tragic for thoughts to be such successful interrupters of daily tasks. How amazingly unconscious of us to get caught up in such ravenous thought tornados and cyclical patterns of negative self talk.

Onward. Inward. Upward.
The channeling of energy that is based on a motive. A means to an end. Stemming from the desire for something new. All from thought. Workings of the mind.

We may syphon through feeds of motivational quotes and memes to get us going. Maybe that one specific image of the fit male climbing that rock will trigger a momentous burst of what we call motivation and catapult us in the right direction. That’s the thing. Motivation is momentary. It is not a sustainable fuel source by any means. Motivation is a lot like hunger and hunger is a very motivational type of mood. When we are hungry, we aim towards food to satiate us. Then what? Then we get full. A few hours we may develop an appetite or get hungry again. Do you see this repetitive pattern? When we rely solely on motivation as a means to achieve something or get an astounding idea, we miss the mark and set us up for uncertainty and bigger unmotivated dips in the future.

“ Running in Circles, only to find out that we reached a new level of running in circles.”

It comes down to energy and how we use it.

What happens when we stop searching for that elusive Aha! Moment?

What happens when we can just do for the sake of doing. Small tasks and small steps. If we are present with every small step no matter how arduous of tedious, we can allow for our attention to direct us to the unknown and undiscovered. Think about this and then don’t think about this. It’s amazing how so many ideas pop in our mind sacs when we are doing other things, especially more physically demanding things. It’s the act of being present without forcing or trying to over-conceptualize or even glamorize the goals we are aiming towards. When we allow the space and surrender our attention to what is, a new space of potential opens up before our eyes. Not contrived and not forced. Being in the “moment” and the flow with doing produces spontaneity that allows for creativity to flourish and flow into our awareness.

We may have tons of great ideas throughout the day. We get Idea drunk and may get very excited, but realize a couple days later that it was only a rather feeble and week concept. But that first high of that idea is what gets you going! When we stop searching for the Mega Idea(s), we can carry one with little dramatic ups and downs like a roller-coaster of conceptual catastrophe. We know when we have a great idea. We can feel it. We feel integrated, reinvigorated and refreshed. But what about the present moment that you are always occupying whether you acknowledge it or not? What about this space in between the thoughts? The quietness and stillness of the mind that permeates through your being.

How many times have you had a great idea while doing something physical? In the body. In the flow.

In the shower?
On a treadmill?
Out for a walk?
Sweeping?
Doing Dishes?
In the garden?

You see the pattern here. How funny it is to get so many spontaneous and unexpected ideas when we aren’t trying too hard to LOOK for them.

Looking and Listening. Uncommonly common acts. The Attention to Intention.

If your writing is not turning out the way you want it, keep writing.
If your painting is quite inspiring, keep painting or do something else and come back to it.

We focus so much on creating or providing things so valuable and so unique that we forget how important the spaces in between are. Like notes and rests. Words and pauses. The little journeys in between. The spaces in between allow the thinking to take its own course behind the scenes without us trying to interrupt so much. We all know that feeling of trying to think too hard. What happens in that moment? We get caught in a corner of confusion and feel as if all the glucose in our brains are being drained as if we are watering cans.

You can always just sit with in.
Let it FIND you.

So. Step Back. Take a Break. Refresh your eyes. Do some Push Ups. (Breathe) Finish putting up those dishes. Even if you don’t necessarily feel tired or stuck. Even if you think you can’t do anything good. Observe. Stop the seeking and the need to be inspired. Get what needs to get done around you. You will be pleasantly surprised to see how these unintended inspirations will find you when you least expect it.

DG