Notes on a creative life has moved to Texas!
(10/16/00)

When you come to a fork in the road, take it. -- Yogi Berra

Greetings creative folk, friends and fellow travelers on the creative path. I haven't dropped off the planet as has been recently rumored; I've just been living in the void of change and transition for the past few months and writing about it seemed like the last thing on my mind. LOTS of change, and it's not stopped yet.

You'll remember in my last "Notes" I was about to depart my old job in Salt Lake City (this sounds like an old TV show..."in the last episode our hero..."). Well, I've moved to Austin, Texas, primarily to be nearer family and friends (my father had cancer and was in failing health near here), and to be closer to the oak trees that I love and that only grow in the southeastern part of the U.S.

I'm back in the throes of freelance life once again. Hunting new clients, collecting from old. And I arrived in Texas just in time to have a precious few quality hours with my father until he passed over just last week. I also lost two of my favorite cats in the move, so with the joy of relocation, comes the bitter tea of loss. Much is still in transition, but I feel ready to pick up on the threads of writing "Notes" again, and I look forward to continuing the dialog I had begun with you.

Today's subject is about my recent experience - and probably yours if you've gone through some life change of late ­ the void of change. Or, maybe I should capitalize it...the VOID...to give a clearer sense of the sometimes overwhelming character of transition and the importance it can play in moving us into more creative spaces in our lives.

What the heck is it? The void is a state of consciousness, a state of mind, a physical and mental space that you move into during transition times. The void is a gift. It comes to us so we can expand our current limits and boundaries, help us let go of old ways of doing or being, and move into the next level of growth or our next phase of life experiences.

While in the void, you leave behind familiar routines, structures, patterns of behavior, attitudes and ways of doing. Sometimes, the void is forced on you by external experiences: you lose a job, a loved one, a close friend, you're forced to move, or any number of changes that Providence sees fit to send us to nudge us out of a place of comfort and stasis. In the void, we have the opportunity to look deep within and begin to create new ways and forms that more closely match the you that you are now (me that I am now), or what we want to do next.

The void then is essentially a space where we go to "re-create" our external lives to match the changes that are going on in our internal lives.

Sound complicated?
It's not really. We all experience the void in varying degrees throughout our lives. It's a transitional space, one where we examine what you've done, and choose the direction we want to take next: in our work, relationships, where we live and what we do each day. When we leave the familiar and comfortable, we get to take a new perspective, see our lives with fresh eyes, learn much about ourselves, what skills we've developed, what interests us most, and what kind of life we're creating. Notice how I keep coming back to the word "create?"

Because we create our lives, a little at a time each day. And the void can help us create a better, more satisfying life. By honoring the oncoming of the void, by cooperating with our feelings and our circumstances instead of struggling and going against the flow of our experiences, we give our mind and body time to sort through things and take the highest and best possible direction next. Whatever that is. You pick ... or it will pick for you.

The void can be scary as hell. Bills continue to come in. You can feel like being alone, maybe like being in nature more. The external structures of our lives may be falling away, and it's important to take the time to shake loose of the old structures, like a snake slithering from its old skin. Another quality of the void - many of the issues that come up are issues of the heart: Who am I? What am I doing with my life? Am I living true to my wishes and desires? Our ability to love and honor ourselves and others, to realistically view who we really are, what we've accomplished with our lives, how we accept and love ourselves and others more...are all questions that may surface to be examined.

My advice? Breathe in, breathe out. Ask for guidance from whatever higher source you look to in your view of things. And watch for signs, the thread that sticks out of the tapestry of your days. It will point you in the direction of the next thing. It may not look like the next thing, but it will lead you there. Whatever it is, you¹ll know if you¹re going in the right direction because it will feel more interesting that what you've been doing. Your heart will feel lighter when you take a step in the new direction. If it doesn¹t then look for another thread, cause this isn¹t yours. Your highest and truest direction will look and feel like it will be more fun to try.

That's the fork in the road. Take it.