We began with A Poem For the Ones Who Wonder Why, and the longing to always be elsewhere, doing otherwise.
In What Do You Want?, we explored something most of us were taught not to trust. Desire: the ember slow-burning in the belly, the longing that comes out sideways when we refuse to name it. We looked at what we were handed: desire as problem, as spiritual liability, as the thing to suppress or redirect or manage into submission. And we looked at what might be true instead: that desire is signal, not noise. That it points somewhere real, even when (especially when) we can’t yet see where.
We learned to name What Keeps Returning. It’s not the wanting that’s the hardest part. It’s the saying-it-out-loud, the locating yourself somewhere on the field of stones, and admitting you’re reaching for the stars.
And then there was Van Gogh and His Infinite Desire. Infinite desire, painful struggle. The tragedy wasn’t the desire: it was his refusal to see others as persons with their own longing, and the isolation that followed.
This cycle, we’ve been learning to hold the ember of desire without immediately trying to manage it. We recognize that our desire doesn’t resolve, but rather, develops and deepens, and begins taking shape in what we call purpose.
For now: What have you named, or almost named? What are you still sitting with? If you want to talk about it, I’m here.
Recommendation
These two essays slayed me. I hope they help you notice and name the desire in your own life.
Shameless self-promotion of my own YouTube channel - new video! I talk about journaling and honoring your everyday thoughts with beautiful tools.
And finally…
It’s tacofredag!!
I recently explored a bit further afield than I usually do, and enjoyed chicken tinga tacos and some of the best guac and chips while sitting in what might have been one of the most truly glorious, gorgeous days in recent memory.
Let’s be hopeful, creative, and wise—together.
Shalom,
