This year of travel has offered me some profound learning experiences, none more than this simple lesson: impermanence teaches you what you want to be permanent. When everything is temporary, it gets obvious what you want to keep around. Traveling full-time often means energy reserves are low and sleep is minimal, so I’ve become acutely aware of who and what requires energy, and who and what refills my reserves. Motivation is a scarce resource, and only certain activities that you’re truly passionate about can keep you going. These activities form a kind of “energy symbiosis;” they may drain you, but also fill you up in the process. Sometimes I end a day feeling physically empty but emotionally full. I think this is where our “calling” lies.

I chatted with a musician friend recently about the conflict she feels surrounding her love for classroom teaching, despite being offered some “once in a lifetime” touring opportunities. I didn’t answer eloquently at the time, but now I would say that you can’t deny what electrifies you, even if it means disappointing people or turning down opportunities. Passion MUST come first. Society may decide some opportunities are “cool,” but they aren’t for you if they’re not in your heart. A few months on the road feeling emotionally unfulfilled is a quick recipe for exhaustion and resentment. It’s the draining without the filling. I think the hard part is understanding what is in your heart, and this year has given me a much clearer view of what’s in mine.

One of my mentors asked me “what do you have unending energy for?”
It didn’t take me long to answer, but what came out wasn’t what I expected to say, or necessarily wanted to hear. I thought about the things I volunteer to do in my own time, for no other reason other than I enjoy them so inherently, and also feel successful at them.

I often ask the students I mentor: what could you do every day for the rest of your life? I encourage them not to be afraid of the answer. What do you do in your free time because you enjoy it? I tell them to think outside-the-box and offer them examples like eating, gaming, chatting with their friends, catching insects, etc. Nothing is off-limits. Then I ask them to think about something that they feel comes effortlessly to them. Where do they breeze through when others struggle, like they’ve been offered an inherent gift that others haven’t? (If you’re having trouble coming up with something, think back to how you would have answered as a 10 year-old. I’ve never met a student who couldn’t answer this question. Food for thought.)
Again I remind my students that this “effortless talent” could be outside school subjects. Enjoying attention, crunching numbers, being funny, caring for the siblings, etc, are all perfect answers. Then we get creative- where could the ‘enjoyment activity’ and ‘effortlessness activity’ overlap? If what you enjoy most and what you’re best at were in the two circles of a Venn diagram, what exists in the shared center? What would your perfect day look like? That’s when the fun brainstorming begins, because absolutely anything we come up with is 100% possible with time, effort, and direction. I’m a living example.

So I ask you: What fills you up? It drains you, but also offers you the biggest, most heartful reward? Where do motivation and energy come easily? A self-turning wheel of life energy?

And there it is, drriifters, my first cliffhanger. Most of you probably have an accurate guess as to how I’d answer these questions, and I’d love to share my “drains you while filling you” passion in my next post.

See you shortly,
Diana