“You live out the confusions until they became clear.” – Anais Nin

The thing we need in great measure and rarely spend time thinking about is clarity: an unwavering decision about what we want in life and out of life. I don’t think a lack of clarity comes from not knowing at all; I believe there’s a well deep inside all of us where our true desires lie. 

The question then becomes: are we brave enough to acknowledge our thirst and do we have enough courage to draw from the well?

It would mean exposing those desires for the world to see – or maybe more importantly, for us to stare at, examine, and consider. Are we brazen enough to say out loud that we want something we don’t yet have? All the while, letting the want live and breathe without any closed fists about the outcome. Surrendering the how and when and who and where, and simply resting peacefully in what is.

It sounds nearly impossible when you realize you must put some level of energy towards this thing to make it a reality while simultaneously releasing everything about it. But that’s the paradox of the universe – this life rarely unfolds the way we think it will. It bares itself out in unpredictable patterns no matter how tightly we grasp the reigns.

The key in the in-between – in the hallway, as I’ve heard it called – is gratitude. Profound thanksgiving for all that is and even all that will be, though we have no idea what “that” will actually look like or if it will resemble the vision we have in our hearts. And I’d like to think the clarity becomes even more clear when we choose to recognize that it’s all beautiful, it’s all working itself out, and it’s all for our good.

[Photo: The Hive in New York City where all staircases eventually lead to the top.]