Sometimes it’s good to stop and ask yourself what you really want. It’s a common pastime, this time of year. But how often do you ask yourself – or the universe – “what could I do with, right now”?
New Age Thinking?
This may be, for some, straying uncomfortably close to esoteric thinking. It could be the kind of ‘ask and you will receive’ New Age-ism that makes you want to fetch a bucket. But bear with me: it’s not all crystals and unicorns.
The fact is, whatever the processes and mechanisms, focusing on an aim or aspiration can yield surprising results. And there really is no mystery here. When we apply our thinking to something we would like to happen, it is more likely to occur. (I expect we have all had the experience of bumping into someone we had just thought of for the first time in ages.)
Stacking The Odds
The reason is that we are mentally creating the environment needed for that particular outcome. This may lead us to look something or someone up, go to an appropriate location or take part in a relevant event. That way, the odds begin to stack in favour of what it is we hope to achieve.
Which takes us back to an idea discussed in an earlier post. The strategy of just doing something when we may feel there is nothing to be done. It also echoes thoughts, expressed in these pages, about not worrying unduly about specific outcomes. The key to moving on, after all, is to move.
Shifting Thought-Processes
And this may not necessarily mean physical action. The ‘moving’ may require a period of stillness: stopping that which may be the cause of a blockage in the first place. We can then allow our thought-processes to shift. And then ‘actual’ movement may follow.
The hippy element of our community (of which I may or may not be a member) sometimes likes to speak of ‘asking the universe’. You may prefer to think, rather, of focusing on your desires. Or, perhaps, following your dreams. All of which may sound a little dramatic. On a mundane level, however, it can’t hurt to spend a little time considering what you really want: now; this afternoon; in five-years’ time. Give it a go: you may be pleasantly surprised.
Good Creative Teaching
When it comes to our children and pupils, they are generally quite adept (again, particularly at this time of year) at voicing their wants and desires. And how often do we counter with ‘yes, but right now you should be thinking about…’? There is a school of thought that the word ‘should’ is best avoided. If we can replace it with ‘could’, then the focus shifts from requirement to possibility. And this, I would suggest, is the essence of good creative teaching.
So, rather than asking yourself and the children in your care ‘what should we do?’, try asking ‘what would we like?’. As with all things, it may not lead to quite what you expect. But at least you will be heading in a direction of your own choosing.
Happy creative travels!