Coaching for intelligent, aware people who want to live deeply fulfilling lives
In any now-moment, the universe lays before us only certain potentials and not others, and it also gives every actualizable potential a set of natural limitations. An experienced potter understands this. She realizes that potential outcomes which can fulfill her intention to create something out of clay are not unlimited. The clay is what it is, nothing more or less. Clay, like any material, has certain characteristics that limit what can be actualized from it.
When we look at the roots of the word conceive we learn that it comes from the Latin words that mean to join and to take. Clearly this infers something important about the conceiving that vision facilitates. Vision brings something together. It joins something that was once not connected, and through this process, it produces a result that is not merely the sum of its parts; it is something original.
Vision is a very misunderstood concept in Western Culture where it seems to be confused with imagining a future result. There is a visualization method which has received a lot of attention in recent years. This method is based on a premise that, in order to create what we want, we must picture ourselves having that thing “manifested.” We must imagine the form we want the future will take, and this clear picture of the outcome then becomes the basis of a goal for achieving that outcome, often by some arbitrary date made up in the Mind. In some models, absolute belief that the outcome will come about is also required.
“Attachment to your goals does not allow the flexibility that living in present time demands.”
− Spotted Eagle
I ran across this quote the other day, and it really gave me pause. I’m realistic enough to know that objectives are necessary and that, without targets to drive a process, our endeavors tend to stagnate or go off track.