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We recently read about Danielle heeding her “deep creative inklings.” Not long ago, Jonathan Fields was interviewed here and spoke about his own dramatic move from law career to pursuing his entrepreneurial passions. Just have a look at the list of contributors to this blog–so many of us tell the story of making a shift to answer a calling in our lives. So how does it happen, and how do you even know that what you’re sensing is a call?

Notice What Gets Your Attention

A call always gets our attention. It’s a call if it takes us away from what we have been aware of previously and heightens us to a new sense of awareness. Think of the suddenness of phone calls… you’re deep in thought or conversation, and then the phone rings. Boom–your awareness shifts to the ring. Phone calls always remind me of hotel wake-up calls. I have done my fair share of business travel recently, and if you have, too, then you know that not all wake-up calls are alike.

The Ring with No Voice Message

The phone rings. You grope for it, pick it up, put it to your ear, and…nothing. This is always a bit of a surprise to me. You expect someone to say something. Some callings are like that phone call. You get an intuitive hit somehow, but there doesn’t seem to be any message attached to it. It can almost feel like a distraction or a wrong number. Is this meant for me? What on Earth does it mean, and what am I supposed to be noticing? You don’t know…but it still nags at you.

The Ring with a Prerecorded Message

This one always makes me laugh. The phone rings, you pick it up, and you hear a recording telling you that this is your requested wake-up call. Sometimes you get a bit more information, like the weather or the current time. Some callings are like that. You know you’re being pulled in a particular direction, and you know it’s time to make a move, but should you respond? It’s so tempting sometimes to just hang up the phone and go back to sleep.

The Ring with a Human Voice

This is the loveliest but also the most embarrassing. The phone rings and you pick it up, your voice hoarse from sleep. A real live human being says, “Good morning, Ms. Mattenson, it is 5:30 a.m.” And then you say, “Thank you.” An actual exchange–there’s no mistaking this one. This is personal and real. This is when life hits you over the head and says, “Are you listening? Yes, you–get off your duff and make the move!”

The fact is, we don’t get to choose the kind of wake-up call we receive (hotels don’t give you the choice; why should the universe?). If you think you may have missed calls lately, you might want to check these out:

Callings: Finding and Following Authentic Life — by Gregg Levoy

Answering Your Call — by John Schuster

Awake is Good, a lovely blog by Jan Lundy (author of Your Truest Self)

Something to Think About

Let me leave you with a quote from Gregg Levoy’s book:

“You don’t want an answer you can put in a box and set on a shelf. You want a question that will become a chariot to carry you across the breadth of your life–a question that will lead you toward what you need to know for your integrity [and] draw you to what you need for your journey…”

[Photo by ||!prliignore7||]