Creative Bulletin n.273

Last week I was on retreat for a shamanic training.

I often ask myself why I feel such a strong need to work on myself, to stir things up inside, to uncover who I am. My answer is always the same: it's inevitable. Delving deep has always had a tangible impact on my ability to express myself. From the inside out, "as above, so below."

What’s the connection between opening the heart and growing a business? Between a prophetic dream and buying a new house? Between a cathartic cry and the idea for a novel? It can’t be explained or measured, and yet—it’s there. Since I’ve been back from the retreat, I’ve felt the urge to sand the table in my new studio (I did it by hand, for hours 😅). What am I getting ready for?

These days it’s trendy to ask ChatGPT for advice, and its answers are perfect, spot-on, so rational that they seem bulletproof. And yet they’re not right, because they’re cold, too mind-driven. Business isn’t doing well > change your business model, run tests, blah blah blah. Sure, you’re right, but it doesn’t speak to me. Where did the connection between inside and outside go? Without that, everything falls apart—we end up living someone else’s life.

We’re not algorithms. The mind is always right, but we are not only that. We are a heart, a gut, a soul, and we are interconnected with others and with the world. Why should we care about our dreams? Because they might offer hope to someone else. Because just trying might inspire a stranger to do the same. Why laugh, cry, and struggle through it? Because that’s what resonates—and if it doesn’t even resonate with us, then what’s the point? Why will I love that table? Because I spent hours sanding it, and already now, when I touch it, the wood feels warmer.

None of this comes from the mind. The mind wants the best for us, it wants the path from A to B to be linear and simple. Find a secure job; duty first, then pleasure; make the safest, most reasonable choices. It makes a lot of sense—but there’s no emotion, and therefore no energy.

🌈 Creative takeaway: let’s give the mind a new vision.

Who cares about getting from A to B. I want to go from Me to my Destiny. And to do that, the road is mysterious. If the mind really worked, everyone would be happy and doing what makes them feel alive. Just look around. Haha. I’d say that’s not the case.

Maybe we need to go have breakfast at a café this morning because we feel trapped—and maybe that’s where the idea we’ve been searching for will come. Maybe we need to take a moment to cry, and that will turn things around in our business. Maybe we need to apologize, and that will give us our energy back. Maybe we need to forget who we’ve been up to now, so we can dream again.

Let’s explain to our mind that it’s useful, but limited—and to navigate, we need a North Star. But it’s not the result of a calculation; we find it within us, in a much deeper sky.

What else is there to say?
Have a good journey.

With ❤️,
Matteo

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