How to Desire

We don’t really want to fulfill all of our desires. There would be no pull in the momentum of the day, no where and no thing to reach for.

Life would retain the magic of childhood if we trusted that there was much ahead of us, that the moment of now is the thing to be enjoyed.

And yet we strive— to get everything we want, because we do want, and the wanting itself is painful, something to fix, to escape.

Why is it painful to live in a state of desire? Staying attentive to what we do not have prevents us from loving what we do have. We drive ourselves crazy, ambitious, attending to what-is-not. And that burn is beautiful when it is clear, when we do not confuse our desires, misplacing the verb, desire, onto nouns: the things, people, places we think will end desire.

Ending desire begins the depression of living without passion. So we learn to desire as a positive way of life, to want just what is irresistible, what already calls. When we act in this way, intentionally reaching for that which reaches for us, then actions we take elevate our energy, and everyone connected to us.

Which desires empower?

The desires to make, to create, to give— these are the most fulfilling desires because the origin is within. When we want what is outside of us, when we compare, we externalize the drive and give away our own center point. Without center, we are naturally afraid of rejection, ashamed of perceived failures, hopeful for outside approval, desiring anything and everything that seems to make others happy, successful, desired.

To return, to be the one who lives desire as a verb, we need only to look within, see all that we are, what we have as our natural (inner) resources. We create order within, clear space for wise vision, and then return to the world, refreshed, renewed, giving ourselves openly, wholly, because that is what the world desires most.

You.