Empty of Desire

[Cat Dancer]

A few months ago I did an exercise where I wrote down every desire that came into my head. Regardless of whether I thought the desire was good or bad, sensible or silly, I wrote it down, without judgment.

I posted the list on my blog. Some people laughed at some of my desires (I did too), and some thought I was courageous to post them publicly.

I thought I was then going to filter and prioritize my desires. I was going to apply the techniques in the book Getting Things Done by David Allen. I was going to come up with a plan, identify projects, apply time management, find motivation, list goals, work towards milestones.

Instead, strangely, I find myself empty of desire. I do what I want each day. Little has anything to do with the desires I listed. People call me up and offer me work, and I'll say "yes" or "no" depending on whether it's sensible work for me to do. I enjoy watching the fall sunlight falling upon the brick buildings. I talk to people, and I have a great curiosity. They may insult me, or praise me, or be resistant, or be upset. None of these affect me, I'm just become more curious, I become more fascinated.

Looking at Steve Pavlina's post on the Levels of Consciousness, I think my predominant state may have reached "Neutrality".

What's interesting is that without the noise and clutter in my mind, I can hear more subtle signals. I can hear the small voice in my mind that suggests perhaps what I should be doing is helping people through the singularity, and take it seriously.

[Richard_Todd]

Since you no longer desire them, should your four love slaves show up, feel free to send them my way.

[Cat Dancer]

Originally Posted by Richard_Todd

Since you no longer desire them, should your four love slaves show up, feel free to send them my way.

*laughs out loud*

^_^

[Mitalp]

Looks like you removed your desires and all the clutter that came with it, without even manifesting them. It's like you achieved all your goals, just by writting them out. Amazing, if you ask me. I'm def. going to give that a try.

Great to hear your in that higher level of consciousness and just listen to that little voice inside you.

[Cat Dancer]

Originally Posted by Mitalp

It's like you achieved all your goals [--] just by writting them out [--] without even manifesting them.

Yeah.

There's a rather facinating talk by a psychology professor at Harvard, Dan Gilbert, about what makes people happy... and it's not what they strive for: http://ted.streamguys.net/ted_gilbert_d_2004.mp3 (22 minute audio file)

I'm def. going to give that a try.

The way I did it is in one sitting I wrote down all the wants that occurred to me, which turned out to be around 70% of the total. Then for a week afterwards I carried a small notebook around with me at all times. Whenever the thought "I want ..." came into my head, I whipped out the noteback and wrote it down.

[Richard_Todd]

Originally Posted by Cat Dancer

There's a rather facinating talk by a psychology professor at Harvard, Dan Gilbert, about what makes people happy... and it's not what they strive for: http://ted.streamguys.net/ted_gilbert_d_2004.mp3 (22 minute audio file)

Thanks for pointing that out; I really enjoyed it! I even put a link to it on my blog.

[helgi]

So when you wrote them down, you realized that they weren't of any real value.

Right?

I came to a 'tipping point' realization about the exact same thing this morning, and even wrote about it in my journal using almost the same words; this feeling of being 'empty of desire.'

I haven't yet written down a list of desires like you suggest, but have experienced a similar result via journaling. A gradual shift towards seeing that there is nothing of real value in the promise of the world, slowly realizing that you can't have both worldly attachment and peace; that complete detachment is the only real option. This is now suddenly obvious to me, as I realized that what I'd been attaching myself to was of no real value, and that letting go of it didn't involve any sacrifice whatsoever.

I'm going to try making an 'I want' list, allow this to sink in some more. Thanks for the suggestion!

[Cat Dancer]

Originally Posted by helgi

that complete detachment is the only real option

Hmm, I'm not sure I'd describe myself as being "detached"... thus, if it is the only real option, I'm not there yet I suspect for me that being empty of desire is a step... an important step, a necessary step, a step in which I can quiet my mind and to begin to be able to hear more important things.

[Cassie]

That is really bizarre. I might have to try this exercise to see whether or not I can achieve similar results. It was a lot of fun to read your 'desire' list on your blog.

[Cat Dancer]

Originally Posted by Cassie

It was a lot of fun to read your 'desire' list on your blog.

I'm glad you enjoyed them!