the architect in your soul

Eden by Liz Brown

I don't care for New Year's resolutions, because I feel like we should try to adjust the course of lives throughout the year. But I like the idea of purposefully heading into a new direction at the beginning of a year and it's in that spirit I write the following...

While driving to work today, I was thinking about the vision for my life. I don't have it all figured out, but I know what I value and I tend to do things that allow me to live within those values - gathering friends, telling other people's stories, and experiencing new things. That's like the master list of things I love and value. I don't know where my life will lead, but I want to constantly lean into those values until the day I die. 

When I follow my passions, it's as if the stars have aligned, the wind is against my back, and my heart is at ease. I've found that when I'm actively leaning into my passions, I feel more alive and when I'm doing what I love, I feel more whole.

Personally, the idea of living from my passions conjures this image of a little cartoon architect nestled deep inside of my soul. Sometimes this architect is hidden away or lethargic, but other times it's wide awake and doing what it loves.....building things. If I were to have a resolution for the next year, it would be to allow that architect out my soul and into my life more often.

I believe we all have the architect inside of us and I believe that when it's allowed to do what it needs to do, our lives become to grow into something more meaningful. This architect is an obvious (perhaps, too on-the-nose?) metaphor for our passions and talents, but it's fitting because our talents allow us to build the dreams that are within our hearts, out in the external world. When we lean into our passions and allow the architect to build, it gives us the ability to bring our hopes to life. 

Michelangelo once carved an angel out of marble and had this to say about the project, "I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free." And that's what I say to you, dear reader: carve. Set the angel free, let the architect out, and bring your dreams to life.