Our Desires Are Sacred: How to Reconnect With What You Really Want

We can so easily rationalise our ‘frivolous’ wants away by telling ourselves it’s not practical or there are other things we should be doing first.

But what if our desires are sacred?

For a long time I was disconnected from my own desires, distracted by the noise of other people’s opinions. It’s taken me a while to be able to hear them within myself and then honour them. 

Give yourself what you want

I recently had a piece of guidance arrive like a flash of truth. It said, “you can speed up the time it takes to realise your dreams just by giving yourself what you want.” 

Go back read that again if you need to. 

The thing that came into my mind directly afterwards was a tattoo on my vision board. Of course, I booked myself straight in. 

I got a piece of wattle on my hand from a local female artist. It’s beautiful but it’s also a bit crappy in places. 

What came next I didn’t expect. Having someone else’s imperfect art on my body lit a fire within me to start making my own. Since then, I’ve been drawing, painting or doing something towards a visual art practice every single day. 

The tattoo has become a reminder to let life be filled with as much colour, beauty and joy as possible. Because it’s all impermanent, even permanent ink. Life is fleeting. 

Our imperfect art is human and exactly what the world needs right now.

Follow the energy

So how do we get from where we are now to that place where we can spread our wings, shine as ourselves, take risks and allow the work to flow through us from a place of devotion?

The answer that seems to be most true from my experience is following the energy.

Where do you feel the energy coming into the body to meet a challenge or an opportunity?

Can you feel that glimmer of inspiration, excitement or even calm knowing?

Are you ignoring these feelings, no matter how small or insignificant they might seem?

Can you move towards the spark even when the mind tries to convince you it’s not a priority?

There are so many ways we can push our desires away, by saying it’s not practical, it’s not the right time, I should be doing something else, maybe later.

What might happen if we listened?

I’ve found that the more I make space for these little sparks, the more they seem to lead somewhere. Since I started making art every single day, things have been shifting in my life and fast. I feel the next era downloading and I don’t think this is unique to me.

I believe many of us are being called to move into greater alignment with who we always were and who our souls know we’re here to be. We’re being asked to lock into even more authenticity. 

There are so many ways we can push our desires away, through fear, judgement, distraction, thinking ‘who are we to do something so bold, brave, brilliant?’ 

Hold up. Who are we to block what wants to be created through us?! If we listen to divine inspiration, we open ourselves up to incredible possibilities. 

Do it with lightness 

Can we try to soften some of the resistance and move towards our dreams with a new lightness, knowing none of it really matters. Holding that contradiction. It’s the most important work we’ll ever do, and yet we’re human and we’re learning and we’re not here for long, so it doesn’t matter at all.

It’s just self-expression, it’s just a business, it’s just a job, it’s just tattoo, it’s just art, it’s just one moment in a much bigger life story, it’s just a page in the history of the world. Let the AI try to do it perfectly. We’re here to live.  

I’ve loved seeing the tributes to Dolly Parton coming in thick over the last few weeks. This quote really stands out to me, as the embodiment of this lightness:

“I'm not afraid of failure because, to me, I never feel like a loser. Even when I've lost I still feel like I'm winning because I'm earning some sort of experience of something that I can use somewhere else.” 

What a beautiful way to be.    

Embracing the uncertainty 

To exist in this state of lightness, maybe we need to let go of knowing exactly where it will lead. If we are seeking certainty in the external world, we may be looking in the wrong place.

Many of us have been through some big leaps over the last few years, leaving the secure job, the relationship, setting boundaries, moving beyond addiction, moving cities, countries, changing careers. We have felt what it’s like not to have solid ground beneath our feet, but to trust that the earth is there to catch us on the other side. We’re building incredible amounts of trust in ourselves and in life through this process. 

I don’t know exactly what’s next for me and for once, I’m okay with that. Am I at the final destination on my vision board and in my dreams? No, but I’m loving the process and I’m so grateful for all that I have. Again, holding it all at once.  

Sometimes the detour is the path

One thing I’m learning is that when you’re in touch with your intuition, it doesn’t always send you down the path you expect. Sometimes it sends you somewhere that on the surface looks completely unrelated to your ultimate goal. I have experienced this. And these are the moments when it’s hardest to trust. 

Wherever we are right now is also perfect. Maybe it’s the place from which we can see what greater alignment looks like. Maybe it’s the exact conditions needed for our next chapter to come forward.  

We don’t always need to know what we’re planting next, sometimes we just need to make space. Not rush the process because we can’t tolerate the empty patch of earth. Not put things in the ground simply because we’re scared there might be nothing there. Letting the growth and opportunity come in its own divine timing. 

You are the magic

A colleague recently said to me, ‘You think your life is some sort of fairy tale’, which I think she meant as an insult but I have fully embraced as a way of life. 

What would happen if we treated our lives as a movie where we are the main character. Would you keep sitting at the 9–5 job that was slowly draining you? Or would you take the leap towards the unknown?

It doesn’t mean there is no grief, uncertainty, fear or failure, it just means we’re living the most iconic life, one where we make bold choices, follow the spark, get to see what happens and do it for the plot.

Throwing out the map

What we plan for ourselves now may not match the dreams we have for ourselves, one year from now, five years from now. They are unlikely to be very exciting to our future selves. They probably even look a little conservative right now truth be told.

Maybe our job is to listen, to notice where the energy is moving, to give ourselves what we want, and take the next best step. Not to sit back and wait for the universe to bring it on a silver platter out of fear of making a wrong move. We do what feels right from where we are now and trust the rest will be revealed. 

We’re here to love, we’re here to create, we’re here to experience this wild, precious, imperfect life.

Our desires aren’t pulling us away from the path; they’re helping us find it!