The longing for our potential

 


Is there an unclear longing in you, a drive towards something unknown, a whispering in your inner world which is hard to comprehend but feels deeply significant? Is there a feeling of something hidden inside of you which wants to become visible? Do you feel you have something you need to express and manifest in the world, but you are not quite sure how yet?

In his famous book The Souls code: In search of character and calling the jungian thinker James Hillman describes this as our unique image or pattern, which we are born with and are here to express and give shape. He calls it the acorn-theory: like an oak starts as a potential - an acorn, every person has a uniqueness that asks to be lived, a calling which is already present before it can be lived. And every person has a soul-companion, a daimon, which is reminding you of your calling and helping you to align your life with the calling. The calling and daimon is something transcendent, beyond time and space. So the work of a lifetime is to express something timeless in a reality limited by time and space: the descent of something inhuman into the space of the human. Its not supposed to be easy, and it rarely is. 

If we are here to bring our life in line with the intentions of our daimon, how can we notice the daimon more? Where can we look for the guiding signs pointing us towards the mission of our soul? It is important to cultivate an openness, a sensitivity and an ability to notice and be aware of more than the tasks and goals of our busy everyday lives. Practices which connect body and mind like meditation, yoga and bodywork, may be helpful because the body is part of a larger wisdom which may increase access to knowledge about our calling. The daimon may speak to you through art, significant meetings with people, dreams and nature. Synchronicities, which are external events showing you something meaningful for your inner life, may be guiding signs towards future potential. And the calling is about descending, into human life, growing into the wholeness and into the ground - body, family, work, the place you are inhabiting in the world. The more you embrace your wholeness, the easier it will be to manifest your uniqueness in the world.  

Hillman emphasizes that its not about achieving a clearly defined goal, but more about listening to the voice of the daimon and make continual moving adjustments towards a vision for your life which feels meaningful. The daimon acts less as a personal guide with a sure longterm direction than as a moving style, an inner dynamic that gives the feeling of purpose to occasions. In this perspectice the calling is the everyday life, living the holiness and meaning of it. When moving into this, at some point the distinctions fall away, and living your life as it is every single moment is your calling and expression of your potential.

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