Marlow's Musings 8/25/24
Bringing purpose to life.
Over the past month, I’ve sprinkled something different in the Musing by sharing one of the Language of Purpose ideas rather than following my regular format.
These deeper explorations of purpose and meaning have generated intense interest and conversation. As a result, I thought I’d share another.
This one is perhaps the most personal as it is one of the words that make up my Ikiverse. This represents my own exploration of meaning and movement away from the Default Language to the Language of Purpose.
These words come alive when spoken, and I encourage you to use the audio narration.
Now I invite you to explore another Language of Purpose…
Audio narration by David Marlow
🌱No life ever grows until it is focused, dedicated, disciplined.
Harry Emerson Fosdick
Definition.
inspirit: (v)
in·spir·it / īn-spīrit
1: to bring forth, to bring to life
2: enliven.
3: to instill courage or life
Inspirit is a combination word:
from ‘in’ which in original Old English means into, upon, and influence.
and ‘spirit’ which comes from the Old French espirit and the Latin spiritus which means breath of God or of life.
Risk
Imagine a neglected garden. There is no direction, no guidance, no energizing force and so the garden takes the default path.
Once full of promise, now tools rust and seeds sit on the side unplanted and forgotten.
It becomes the product of the whims of wind and wild.
The soil, unturned for ages becomes hard making it all but impossible for anything but weeds to grow. The few flowers that manage to start soon fade and are choked out by the thorns and thistles that thrive in the neglected garden.
There is no beauty to see, no harvest of food. The potential, the possibilities, hidden from view.
The life, the spirit, this garden once contained has all but passed.
No garden ever grows until it is brought to life by focus, dedication, and discipline.
Without purpose, we are the neglected garden.
Opportunity🌀
There is hope for our neglected garden.
Understanding our purpose cultivates focus, dedication, and discipline.
Encouraged, we prune away the weeds of doubt, disappointment, expectation, and judgment to make way for good things to grow.
Inspired and intentional self-discovery becomes like tilling and nourishing the soil.
We consciously sow the seeds of meaning, nurturing a clear sense of direction.
The garden is renewed and made alive. The pathways through the fruit and flowers are clear and clean.
Purpose has brought forth (inspirited) a bountiful harvest of meaning and joy.
Story
Early in my Ikigai journey three words resonated with me.
Encourage, Empower, and Enable
So much so they became the foundation of my Ikiverse.
📌 Ikiverse is a way to articulate your Ikigai in a single sentence.
Being able to share it invites others to support you in your Ikiquest.
My early Ikiverse was…
“I encourage, empower and enable people to be all they were created to be.”
In doing my distinction work I dug deep into the origin and meaning of ‘encourage.’
Encouraging to me wasn’t patting people on the back and telling them they were doing a good job. It meant much more.
For me, it meant giving them the tools, knowledge, and inspiration necessary to live out all they were meant to be in their lives.
In searching I found a synonym for encouragement that spoke to that bigger mission…
Inspirit: To bring forth, to bring to life.
That’s what I do!
In my writing, teaching, coaching, consulting and even playing with my grandkids, I am at my best when I am encouraging, empowering, and enabling people to be all they were meant to be.
Bringing forth the power of purpose in the lives of others.
Inspiriting!
Knowing our purpose brings to life the person we were created to be.
Not only to our lives. It brings that gift to the lives of those around us.
Application.
“Only with absolute fearlessness can we slay the dragons of
mediocrity that invade our gardens.”
George Lois
Imagine the most beautiful garden you’ve ever seen. Such a garden is brought to life with intention. With focus, dedication, and discipline.
Life happens and our gardens are all too often invaded by the dragons of mediocrity.
People expect things to just happen, to be organic. A patch of weeds and a garden are both organic. One is organic with purpose and intention.
💥 When we embrace our purpose we bring forth the life we were meant to live.
💥 We do the things we were meant to do.
💥 We impact the people we were meant to impact.
That is only accomplished with absolute fearlessness, which is the third aspect of inspirit. To instill courage.
🌀Reflection.
🌱 Reflect on the moments of your life that have truly inspired you. What were you doing? Who were you with?
🌱 How might you incorporate more moments like these into your day?
🌱 Envision a life fully inspirited, aligned with your deepest values and aspirations. What small steps can you take today to move closer to this vision and make it a reality?
🌱 When have you felt like you were enough, that you had the love and acceptance you needed?
🌱 When have you inspirited life in others? Helping them to feel they were enough, loved, and accepted?
🌀 Remember: No matter what has come before, today is a fresh start. 🌱
Let’s make things a little bit better. 🌱
You can learn more about Ikiquest+ here.
Need help creating your Ikiverse? Explore 1-on-1 coaching here.
I am stealing that word, going to use it all the time, and tell people you got it from me. ☺️. All kidding aide I love the nuance that word implies.
We experience true joy in helping others! I like the reference to weeds and vital plants both are organic only one is purposeful and beneficial to others in giving!