What Keeps Returning?
A practice for the desires you haven't named yet
Sustainable Systems provides purpose-focused humans with deliberately designed processes, tools, and practices that are sustainable, meaningful, and beautiful.
Over the last two weeks, we’ve been circling what may be a tender spot for many of us, something many of us were taught not to trust. Unfortunately, there’s no five-step hack for discerning our desires, only the slow, long practice of listening and responding to what is there.
Depending on our faith tradition, family of origin, or current circumstances, noticing and naming our desires may not feel accessible or comfortable.
The practice this week invites you first to sit with the following questions, and notice what has surfaced for you in this cycle.
What keeps returning to your awareness as a want or longing?
What do you think this desire is revealing to you?
What does this desire align with in your life? Where are you noticing resistance?
Feel free to interact with these questions in your preferred style or medium. Be gentle with your naming, but be honest and true.
After you’ve explored your responses (if you’re ready), share what you’ve named with one person you trust. Not to get advice or approval, but to honor your desire and let it be witnessed.
Let me know how it goes for you.
Think back to this month’s SloDo, where you reflected on the stories you tell about your capacity, energy, and organization. Think also about anything that resonated for you in reading last week’s essay. Has anything changed or shifted for you?
Let’s be hopeful, creative, and wise—together.
Shalom,
