We are living at the end of a decade that started with the devastating events of September 11, 2001 and concluded with what has come to be called The Great Recession. One of the things these two bookends to the decade have in common is they have, each in their own way, pushed many of us to ask ourselves some difficult questions: What do I truly value? What is the deeper meaning of my life? What legacy do I want to leave for my children?  Sometimes those who are called to ask themselves these kinds of questions lack a framework within which to begin to find the answers, and so the questions are stuffed down with an intention to return to them later. Once asked, however, the questions remain, coming back now and then to haunt our dreams.

Sometimes the people who come to my workshops and retreats are there because their lives have fallen apart in some way: they have lost a job, their family relationships aren’t working, or they are lonely and in search of connection with a community. But more often than not, the people who I see are the ones whose lives are pretty much ok. They have a job, loving relationships, and are making meaningful contributions to their communities, but something is still not right. They are feeling a yearning for “something,” but cannot determine just what that “something” is.

This human experience of yearning is nothing new. More than 150 years ago, Henry David Thoreau wrote these words in his book, Walden: “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation,” and in spite of all our progress, it is still true today. For every person who is asking themselves difficult questions about their lives there are countless others who, in spite of having a very good life, are haunted by dreams of another way of living. I believe that it is time for us to listen to this yearning. It is time to question the source of this quiet desperation and begin to explore our souls with the intention of discovering the unique gifts we hold within.

I also believe the sense of yearning we are feeling is coming not just from within us but from the soul of the earth, as well. The earth is desperate for us to wake up to our own deeper meaning and purpose. The world cries out for our true gifts, and our souls answer through the yearning that we feel for something else, something different than the story we have been telling as individuals and as a society.

There was a time in my life when my own sense of quiet desperation manifested in what I then described as a persistent ache in my chest. I was feeling a yearning to live a different kind of life based on bringing my most essential gifts into the world, but I had no idea how to go about making that happen. In the beginning, I thought it was all about finding the kind of work I was meant to do in the world. But I have come to understand that finding our right work is only a part of the picture. It’s also about living congruently.

So, are you experiencing something like a sense of “quiet desperation,” or a yearning for something you can’t quite name? How is it showing up for you? What have you done about it? Let me know. I’d love to hear from you.

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