Field Notes • June: Less, But More True

Over the past couple of years, I've explored a lot.

New ideas.
New programs.
New offerings.
New ways of reaching people.
New possibilities for what Explore. Yoga. Health. could become.

Some of those ideas stayed.

Many didn't.

For a long time, I thought clarity would come from adding one more piece. One more resource. One more offering. One more way to help.

Instead, clarity has arrived through subtraction.

I've been asking myself a different question:

If this disappeared tomorrow, would the heart of my work still be here?

Sometimes the answer is yes.

Sometimes I've realized I was holding onto something simply because I had invested time creating it, or because I thought I should offer it.

As I've allowed myself to let go of those things, something surprising has happened.

I don't feel like I'm becoming smaller.

I feel like I'm becoming easier to recognize.

The same has been true in my personal life.

Over the past year I've spent time looking honestly at how I use my energy, my finances, my attention, and even my expectations of myself. Again and again I've discovered that fullness doesn't necessarily come from doing more. More often, it comes from making space for what is already quietly asking to grow.

The process hasn't been about becoming someone new.

It's been about uncovering what has always felt true.

I wonder if this is what exploration is really for.

Not collecting more answers.

But becoming more familiar with ourselves.

So this month, I leave you with the same question I've been living with:

What in your life is simply taking up space because you've already invested in it?

And

What might become beautifully clear if you gave yourself permission to let it go?

— Sivani