The other day I told a client how lucky I think her clients are.
They’re lucky she exists. Lucky she does what she does. Lucky to experience the care and depth she brings to her work.
She paused and said something interesting.
“The world is lucky. The world is beautiful.”
Full stop.
Not because of her. Just because it is.
She was pointing to something that’s actually very freeing to see.
The world is already whole.
It’s an ecosystem constantly moving toward balance. It doesn’t need us to fix it. It doesn’t require our worry or our pressure or our heroic efforts to save it.
And I agree with her.
Seeing that has relieved me of a lot of unnecessary seriousness about life.
And at the same time, I told her something else I believe is equally true.
When you create what you’re moved to create…
When you share your gifts…
The world is better for it. Life becomes richer.
More alive. More colorful. More surprising.
It’s a paradox I stand behind completely:
The world doesn’t need you. And when you bring what only you can bring, it’s a blessing.
One of the misunderstandings many changemakers carry is the idea that we have to feel bad in order to
make things better.
We worry about the world.
We scare ourselves with terrible futures.
We rehearse everything that’s wrong.
As if our suffering is the fuel for meaningful action.
Humans do this funny thing.
We worry so that we won’t have to worry (later).
We scare ourselves so we can feel safe (eventually).
We don’t ignore the suffering of the world once we see the truth of okayness. As Byron Katie wrote about
activism in a perfect world:
“If someone came to you and said, ‘I’m suffering. Please help me,’ would you answer, ‘You’re perfect just the way you are,’ and turn away? Our heart naturally responds to people and animals in need.
I would travel to the ends of the earth for the sake of one person who is suffering. The desperate, the hopeless, are unenlightened cells of my own body. It’s my own body I’m talking about—the body of the world is my body. Would I let myself drown in water that doesn’t exist? Would I let myself die in an imagined torture chamber? My God, I think, there’s someone out there who really believes there’s a problem. I remember when I used to think there was a problem. How can I say no when that person asks for help? That would be saying no to myself. So I say yes and I go, if I can. It’s a privilege. It’s more than that: it’s self-love.”
Or put another way: we don’t have to see the world as broken in order to participate in making it more loving.
In fact, the opposite may be true.
A peaceful world is most naturally created from a peaceful state.
The path is the destination.
I met a woman recently who shared a story that illustrates this beautifully.
For most of her life she identified as an empath. She felt the pain of everyone around her as if it were
her own. Most days she lived with a constant undercurrent of fear and worry about the state of the world.
Then two months ago, the anxiety disappeared.
Her explanation was fascinating.
“For years I worried about the world going to hell and nobody listened,” she said. “Now everyone is worrying. So I don’t have to.”
I don’t necessarily agree with her theory.
But one thing was clear.
For most of her life it looked like she needed to worry in order to make a difference.
And the moment that no longer looked true, something interesting happened. She became clearer about what she actually wants to do.
Less fear.
More clarity.
More genuine desire to contribute.
Which brings me to you.
If you care about making a difference in the world, you don’t have to do it from pressure or anxiety.
You can do it from joy. Curiosity. By following the movement in you asking to be expressed.
And if you’d like help listening for what that is, I’d love to talk with you.
A DragonHeart Portal conversation is a place where we explore what you really want, the difference you feel called to make, and what the next step on that path might be.
Not from suffering. From joy.
If that sounds like a conversation you’d enjoy, you can book a DragonHeart Portal session here.
Yours in love and play,
Steph 🐲❤️🔥
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