Love/Hate Relationships

I’m participating in a six-month Hero’s Journey Mastermind with one of my mentors, Robert Holden. We are studying the work of Joseph Campbell and exploring our past and present Hero’s Journeys.

This week we focused on Following Your Bliss and Refusal of the Call.

Following Your Bliss is exactly like it sounds—following your joy and aliveness. When have you done this in your life? What has been the result? And, where is your Bliss leading you now? (These are great questions to journal on.)

Refusal of the Call is refusing to Follow Your Bliss. Refusal of the call is when we say no to the next step on our path. This could be “big”—like refusing the call to leave a job or end a relationship (I’ve done both, a few times.). It can also be “small”—like refusing the call to go to the gym, prep your meals for the week, or meditate.

The biggest refusal of the call in my life is writing—writing my blogs, newsletters, and sharing on social media. I have such a love/hate relationship with writing. I very much enjoy it when it’s done. I feel accomplished, alive and connected to you—which is deeply important to me…and, starting the process is quite torturous.

We were asked how we refuse the call. What we do instead of answering it?

Some people shared how they let doubt and overthinking get in the way. Others shared how they get distracted by social media and Netflix.

I wait until I feel like it—which, by the way, is never. I get the insight that it’s time to write. I schedule it on my calendar and when I get to that time I think, “I’m just not in the space. I don’t feel like it,” and move it to the next day. This goes on for a week or more (I’m embarrassed to say), until I feel so much pressure to write that all I want to do is relieve the pressure—which writing does. So, I do it.

Refusal of the call is a normal part of the human experience. It’s something we do until we’re ready to take the next step.

Where are you refusing the call in your life?
What do you do instead of answering it?

Bringing your awareness to your particular flavor of refusing the call may help you judge yourself less. It may even give you a giggle and inspire you to actually do the darn thing—which is what it did for me; thus, my email to you now.

Over the next week slow down and take a look—where is your bliss leading you, and how are you refusing it?

Then tell me what you discover in the comments below.

With Fierce Loving,
Amber
ps: I know many coaches refuse the call to lead groups or do what’s required to fill them. I’m holding a video class devoted to this subject in a few weeks. You can sign up here.