[Remembering what makes our heart sing.]

Use it or lose it… there are so many possible “its” that we have either been using or not using.

Do we have special gifts that are sitting idle? Are we continuing to work in jobs that we don’t enjoy and that give us nothing more than a paycheck and a headache? Did we decide to stop living our lives from a place of passion and choose to merely exist instead? Are we always in a rush to get to the next place, somewhere we don’t really want to go in the first place? Have we forgotten what makes our heart sing? What puts the bounce in our step and the sparkle in our eyes? Do we even remember? Or has it been too long?

As children, we expressed our special gifts and talents without even thinking about it. We would run around all day like wild banshees, climbing trees, singing, dancing, drawing, painting, creating mud pies or sculptures, acting out skits and role-playing. These were the activities that made up our lives and it was all about fun, fun, fun. As children we were the embodiment of a continuous stream of creations.

It is our true nature to create beauty in whichever form comes naturally to us. For the majority of us, our childlike nature has been buried under several layers of life and the realities that we have chosen. Yes, we are still creating, we cannot NOT create; it is our nature. Unfortunately, as adults, many of our creations may not be rooted in joy, but rather in fear or survival. The fear of not paying the mortgage or putting food on the table can sometimes override the dreams we once held sacred. Once upon a time we may have dreamed of becoming an artist, but were sidetracked by the lure of a juicy salary in some type of office job. It’s easier to see, in retrospect, how we may have gone off the track along the way.

We all have some aspect lying dormant inside of us, yearning to be expressed, if we would only listen and allow it to speak its truth. If this sounds like you, perhaps it is time to unlearn all that you have been told about how you “should” live your life, step outside of your self-made boundaries and experience the life you came here to live.

Our passions may have been stifled over the years, but it’s never too late to clear out the cobwebs, dig deep inside ourselves and release the passion desperately waiting to be freed. We never really lost our original abilities; we’ve just become more expert at rationalizing. It is never too late to use what we’ve been given, as long as we realize the only requirement necessary is the courage to make a change, or better yet, to allow the change.

But how can we remember what it was like to create in a playful way? Here’s a method that works. When you wake in the morning, before the kids start screaming and the dog starts barking – just for a moment – try to remember how it felt as a child to skip around all day singing about nothing. Try to remember what it was like to draw in the dirt, or finger paint, or play the piano. Spending just a little time each day remembering how good it felt to be footloose and fancy-free can bring back a little spark of joy. This will invite the passion back into your life. Let’s let down our hair, maybe loosen the tie, or possibly undo a few buttons. Let’s dance like maniacs to ridiculously loud music. Who cares what we look like, because it feels great! Let the deep, hearty belly laughs flow. Life is too short to take ourselves too seriously. Let’s pick one thing that we enjoy and bring it back into our lives. Don’t just dream about it in the morning. Begin to live the dream for a few minutes during the day (while the dog is having his dinner). What do we have to lose? Who knows, you may even catch yourself singing a tune in the car on your way to work!

Acknowledging our desire to live differently is the first step. Realizing that we didn’t end up where we are today – overnight – can also help us understand that the journey back into passion is a gradual one. But there is no rush. After all, if we enjoy what we’re doing, we’re not concerned with the outcome because we are having so much fun DOING it. (Let’s not forget that famous adage about that famous city, Rome…)

Let’s also not forget that the secret to making big changes is to take small steps that you stick with for a period of time. The process of change is a never-ending one, hopefully. Often we become overwhelmed when we only focus on the end result, instead of simply focusing on the very next step or, simply, the moment.

Fear can be a great inhibitor of our realization of our true self. I also know that many of us are not ready to fully become who we truly are because we aren’t willing to make the changes in our lifestyle that it would take. When we step outside of our comfort zone we are in uncharted territory and frightened of the unknown. We believe that it will be a long, arduous journey to attain our goals and that we might lose our current friends or maybe even our self-assigned perception of status, in the process. All of this might be true, but what are the consequences of not realizing who we really are? We may have short-term happiness, but in the long run, there will probably be misery and regret that we didn’t have the courage to take the steps and begin to unravel the mystery of self when we had the chance. So the time to start is today.

You are ready now to use “it” – that special gift, that passion, that you never really lost at all.

Athena Markopulos is a writer, photographer, and ordained minister of the Church of the Creator. She is also a founder of The Harmony Center. Belleair Shores. (727) 595-6363.