what are you doing with your gift
hi.
sometimes life hits you.
and hits you hard.
sometimes.
and lately one question has been following me:
what are you doing with your gift.
life is always speaking.
life is always speaking to us.
that’s the realization — that’s the feeling arising within me right now.
and yes… sometimes life also hits you hard. really hard.
really really. and i mean really hard.
but whatever happens, it always gives you perspective.
perspective to see more.
see new.
see deeper.
to experience life deeper — and to experience yourself deeper.
and that kind of perspective…
it defines and redefines your reality.
your relationship with yourself.
your ability to meet yourself.
i watched two videos lately that moved me and got me thinking:
from mark waters, and preston chen.
and it made me feel something i can’t stop feeling:
we’re all on this journey together…
and at the same time, this is our life.
our one precious life we’ve been given.
what do i want to do with it?
and aside from that… once in a while, life sends you messages.
they can be taken whatever which way…
but you can’t help but notice.
and for me, the most recent message was:
you have a gift. what are you doing with your gift?
the first time i heard it, i didn’t know.
i couldn’t help but agree — but i didn’t know what to do.
except continue to try.
the second time i heard it, i met someone i didn’t even know well…
and they told me people are given gifts not just for themselves, but to help others.
and then… the third time.
it came through a random email from a newsletter — one of many i signed up for 10 years ago and never read. lol.
but because it was the exact question i’ve been wondering, questioning, wanting to answer…
i couldn’t ignore it.
it’s funny how we get in our own head with everything.
and i still do that.
i wrote the book… and i still do that.
i can only laugh.
but watching those videos grounded me back into my heart.
and then the email got me thinking…
this time, in my heart.
what if everything changed?
what if i lost everything?
i think everyone knows a bit about loss.
we lose many things across our life —
and yet, despite it, and beyond it…
we also gain.
and it’s hard to wrap our minds around.
so many emotions swirling inside, all carrying seeds of potential…
all trying to take us somewhere.
but what do i want to say?
the greatest fascination of my life has always been something along the lines of:
what is the meaning of life?
nothing else captured me more.
nothing else held me more.
there simply was nothing else — not for me.
it felt like everything else faded away…
because i didn’t want anything else.
i watched a few minutes of oprah soul interviews with pema chodron and a few others…
and i remember hearing them speak the same sentiment.
either very early on… or whenever their time came…
but when you reach it…
that’s literally it.
and yes, these people are known for who they are and what they do.
but i’m just me.
living in the middle of nowhere…
with the same pulsing passion and desire.
not halfway.
not mildly.
fully.
and if you are like this too…
life naturally reorganizes itself according to who and how we are.
so then as i got back into my heart…
all the self-talk…
all the doubt…
all the presentation…
all the noise…
i came back again to the question:
what am i doing with my gift?
and we’ve all been given gifts.
the gift of life most particularly.
the gift of breath.
the gift of this moment.
and then… all the other gifts on top of that.
but what do i wish to share with my time on this earth — as me?
the beauty that i see.
the beauty that i feel.
and how… to come back to the beauty.
i’ve never been able to define the beauty or the gift succinctly — if at all.
not even resonance (which i mention in the book).
anyways…
we’ve all been given a gift.
and this channel is me exploring how to have fun with it.
and give it.
and share it.
and express it.
and give it life.
because as an artist, there is nothing more fulfilling than seeing expression take form.
i’m teaching myself video editing and all of that…
but my strength is naturally in writing.
it’s my primary mode of feeling and processing.
and for now — this is what i can give.
with love,
jane
You are love, true. Just as you are.
Does this make presence more visible?
