Dissatisfaction with the cubicle and the nine-to-five job seems to have become the norm. Books promising freedom from the shackles of corporate life, such as The Anti 9-to-5 Guide, The 4-Hour Workweek
People long for work that satisfies them, that they’re passionate about, and that brings them joy. Work is no longer merely a means for survival, but a way to express who we are and to make a contribution to our community, our society, and the world.
A while back I purchased an audio program called The Ultimate Anti-Career Guide: The Inner Path to Finding Your Work in the World
Jarow teaches people to develop their life’s work from a holistic perspective by affirming their uniqueness and keeping the channel open. That is, our conscious mind simply has to move in harmony with the energetic flow from the life force.
Dancers seem to have an innate sense of this–or at least the great ones do—, as is illustrated in the following quote by Isadora Duncan: “All I’ve ever done is to express the truth of my being in gesture and movement.”
Open the Channel
What you are truly meant to do is not something that you can figure out with practical, analytical, linear, left-brained thinking, such as by creating an inventory of your skills. It’s something that is revealed to you, slowly, step-by step, while the mind is tranquil, neither resisting nor avoiding, and when you’re still, and letting life flow.
It unfolds, like a tree from a seed. Your task is to get out of the way, to keep the channel open, and to work in cooperation with the deepest forces of life. In addition, when you move toward your destiny, there are forces that will embrace you and help you along the path.
Martha Graham was an American dancer and choreographer regarded as one of the most important pioneers of modern dance. Rick Jarow begins his ultimate anti-career guide with the following quote from Graham:
“There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. If you block it, it will never exist through any other medium…. It will be lost…. The world will never have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, nor how it compares to other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open.”
We are Each a Unique Expression
We each have a unique blueprint for our destiny that is encoded within our bodies. More specifically, Jarow explains that this blueprint is stored in the body’s chakra system, the seven centers that govern the flow of life force through the body. Below you’ll find an explanation of the chakras and how each one affects your life’s work.
The First Chakra. Located at the base of the spine, the first chakra is associated with the color red. It is the energetic connection you make with the life force. This chakra is related to your ability to survive and it’s where issues of scarcity versus abundance reside. Jarow explains that a career built on scarcity–a sense of not having enough, of not having roots–will be detrimental to your being. Therefore, the first thing you need to work on is grounding yourself and connecting with the life force.
The Second Chakra. This chakra is orange and it is the area associated with feeling and emotions. It’s located in the lower abdomen. Your life’s work is ignited through passion, through what really disturbs you or affects you. Any genuine feeling–including joy, anger, or sadness–can be a fuel to move you toward the work you were born to do.
The Third Chakra. This is the solar plexus or the center of action. Here is where you make sure that what you focus on and what you put your attention on is in line with what you want. The third chakra is where dreams and fantasies move into action. By aligning our energy (first chakra), our passion (second chakra), and our focus (third chakra), we are able to move an idea, product, or service into visible manifestation.
The Fourth Chakra. This chakra is located in the center of the chest and it’s the color green. This is where our individual focus aligns with our sense of community. That is, this is where “me” turns into “us”. From this chakra you ask the questions: How can I make a contribution to my community? How can I help sustain the generations that follow? Your community is the group of like-minded people who resonate with your vibration; and another name for a community is “a market”.
The Fifth Chakra. This chakra is blue and it’s in the throat. It is the space in which the other elements move and configurate. This is where you give voice to your thoughts; it’s where your imaginative faculty aligns with your sense of abundance and creates new images and new ideas.
The Sixth Chakra. The sixth chakra is in the forehead and it is the color indigo. It is both the intuitive center and the command center. Your life’s work is basically bringing your intuition or your inspiration into the marketplace. It is your task to open yourself to the unknown and bring it down into the known. Here the creative process is not guided simply by our imagination, but by something much larger.
The Seventh Chakra. Some say it’s violet-colored, while others say it looks like a rainbow. It’s located above your head. Here is the integration of work and play; the place where your life becomes art. At the seventh chakra our life becomes an integrative dance with divine energy; our life’s work and the transformation of consciousness become one.
Conclusion
If we open up to our vitality–and follow the blueprint encoded in our bodies–, this will open the creative power that will manifest our work in this world. Ignite your life’s work through passion and by letting the life force guide you.
“A song vibrates through my spirit with words of love, compassion and peace. While I dance I cannot judge, I cannot hate, I cannot separate myself from life. That is why I dance.” — anonymous
(“Prix de Lausanne ’07″; courtesy of Shabok)
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