Pointing the Boat Downstream

I was awake for 23 hours yesterday. Up at 2 am and in bed at 1 am the following day. It was, therefore, the kind of day one could only describe as epic.

I'm sure I could have just stayed home, working and napping. But I didn't. I kept moving, saying yes to every opportunity that arose. I went everywhere. I wrote so, so much. I experienced new people and what I can only describe as a new culture.

I saw a good chunk of the city's tourist spots including La Tour Eiffel with a fellow Calgarian spending six months in Paris. I spent the evening with two women who looked like they'd been transported from the German punk scene in the 80s. We were joined by a nutty burlesque performer from Kentucky who had just come from doing some kind of workshop on bondage. I was informed that she only dates non-biological men. I have only a dim idea what that means.

One of my evening companions is originally from Paris. I had asked her about waiting, one of the themes of my piece. She is waiting for freedom, she told me. Then she said something that has stuck with me today: "What is the beginning of freedom?"

So, what does all of this have to do with pointing the boat downstream (a phrase borrowed from my dear friend Cathy)? Yesterday's epic journey would not have happened if I had resisted it. In fact, none of "this" – my Paris trip, my journey back to my dreams – would have happened.

Pointing the boat downstream means going with the flow. It means following the messages from your intuition and when more opportunities begin to show themselves, following them too. You've heard of the downward spiral and the vicious circle. Well, the upward spiral and the virtuous circle happen just as fast and with just as much momentum. If you let it.

The flow of new opportunities, new people, new experiences – indeed, your new life – is asking you to come along. To stop resisting. To stop analyzing whether or not you are ready. Whether or not all the details have been tended to.

You asked for guidance, it came. Now, it is your job to say yes.

Saying yes takes courage. Accepting the new and the unknown into your life when you have spent years constructing a nice little comfort zone is hard. It is stepping outside your own understanding of yourself and your world. It is a risk.

Every yes will bring you gifts. Unexpected knowledge and perspective. Lessons. Opportunities. Even things that feel bad can be gifts. Consider this: everything that happens, good or bad, serves to move you toward your true self. Sometimes knowing that you are on the wrong track is what you need to get on the right track.

Today, I'm still exhausted. I feel a little weird about last night. I could dwell on the weirdness, the yucky feelings about weird sex classes and non-biological people. Or, I can dwell on the gifts. I was inspired by a number of things last night: Maud's words on freedom, a young girl from Kentucky escaping to Paris to become a burlesque performer, an offhand idea about telling four stories (instead of just one) in my screenplay.

These are my gifts. I am here on a creative journey and I choose to believe that the universe is supporting me in that effort. It is giving me ideas, inspiration, new directions, new perspectives. It is moving me out of my creative comfort zone. I could resist it, call it weird and a little bit creepy. But each of the people I spent time with yesterday had a beautiful vulnerability about them. They, too, are searching for truth in their lives.

Their lifestyles may not be my cup of tea, but I am not here to judge. I am here to accept gifts, and everyone I encountered yesterday had something to contribute to my creative bank account of words, thoughts, images and ideas.

Be grateful for the gifts. Say yes to the messages. Point your boat downstream and have the faith that it will take you where you need to go.