Have you ever noticed that inspiration quickly fades into oblivion the moment it's leashed and bound by rules, the need for approval from others and the fear of taking risks?
Inspiration is the voice of your heart and must be acted on swiftly in order to avoid the avalanche of society-driven ideas that act like a washing machine to clean, tumble dry and wring out every last inch of originality and passion. Your untamed spirit strives to alert you to opportunities that will enhance and enrich your life, if you learn to listen to it.
How do you know if you're already following your untamed spirit? Here are some clues:
• You want your own approval above all. You respect the opinions of others, however you don't base your decisions on them.
• You're bound to yourself, rather than merging your personality into another's for security and validity.
• You don't have a checklist to tick off the outdated and controlling philosophy of life amounting to a high-paying career, marriage, house, children and retirement. If you want to do anything, you do so out of passion for it rather than following the chronological order of the ideals of ancestors living in a very different world to ours.
• You're more interested in the journey rather than the destination and you allow life to flow without resistance.
• You're not waiting for a better job, a life-partner or any of the society-dictated "must haves" to be happy. You like your life as it is and you continually create the circumstances you need, rather than the ones other people think you should have.
• You say "yes" to opportunities to enrich your life and you know that fear of taking risks and losing security is nothing more than that wonderful acronym, FEAR, "False Evidence Appearing Real" (unless you're being chased by a bear).
• You don't use your age as a benchmark for deciding what you should or should not be doing. You know it's completely irrelevant as your spirit is eternally the essence of YOU, not a number with ridiculous, judgmental and completely fictitious associations attached to it.
• You know you're responsible for your emotions, reactions and responses to other people and external circumstances.
The trickiest part about following your untamed spirit is that you often find yourself in the minority. For example, free-spirited women who choose to be single because they love living life that way are still talked about behind closed doors and pitied for their apparent inability to "land" a man.
Truth be told, these women are generally the most coveted due to their elusive, fascinating qualities; they're choosing to remain unbound as they know they don't require a man to make them happy. When and if they choose to have relationships, they do so on their own terms, without any fear, past issues or neediness getting in the way of harmony.
The term "free spirit" is often associated with irresponsibility and flippant behavior. Following your untamed spirit actually means the complete opposite. With freedom, you take all responsibility on to yourself. If freedom means working for yourself, for example, you're not bound by others telling you exactly what to do, when to do it and how much you'll get paid for it.
Free spirits find this invigorating and challenging, but many people like to be bound by rules, because it means they don't have to step out of their comfort zone. Following your untamed spirit requires total commitment to stepping out of your comfort zone. In fact, if you're not regularly challenged, you're not growing, you're simply sitting in a pond of the stagnant, re-occurring thoughts of others.
That's not to say your life must be full of adrenaline-inducing, risk-taking adventures. Meditating, relaxing, embracing silence and spending time with loved ones are activities that sing to your soul and open your mind further to exploring your heart's desires, increasing a sense of peace and tranquillity beneath any external chaos. It's all about continually and consciously choosing the right path for you, whatever that is.
This means taking full responsibility for your own happiness, which is why free-spirited people are often so vivacious, enthusiastic and happy. It means living life based on the pull of desire, rather than necessity or a need to fit in. Anything, from washing the dishes, to gardening, to marriage, traveling or watching the grass grow can be an inspiring adventure, if you choose it to be so.
Inspiration and passion are our most valuable guide maps to life. As soon as you feel the nudge, which usually appears as a lightning bolt idea, butterflies in your stomach or the urge to giggle your head off at the mere thought of something, take one step towards it and ignore the immediately rising doubts of the overly influenced and society-trained puppet that is your ego.
That's all your untamed spirit needs to lead you towards your dreams.
Nicole Leigh West
Author of 'The Gypsy Trail'