Understanding Why We Show Up

As I continue my exploration of Embodied Energy, I find myself moving up the tree toward the third eye.

The third eye has many spiritual associations, including intuition, insight, and perception. But I am interested in what happens when I bring the concept into a physical, everyday experience.

For me, it begins with understanding.

Why am I doing this?

Why have I chosen this experience?

What do I hope to get from it?

What am I bringing to it?

And what is my intention?

These questions seem simple enough, but answering them can take some work.

They ask me to consider what I am doing, why it matters to me, and what I hope to gain from being there. They also connect me to the other parts of my embodied experience. What do I feel? What do I want? What am I willing to express? What do I need?

The questions bring these things together and give the experience meaning.

Sometimes the answer is straightforward. I want to learn something. I want to spend time with someone. I want to try something new.

Other times, I have to think harder.

Perhaps I am doing something because I feel obligated. Perhaps I am trying to meet someone else's expectations. Perhaps I am looking for connection but have not admitted that to myself.

And sometimes I simply want to be there.

I think there is value in understanding the reasons behind our choices, but I have also noticed that this kind of reflection can become a problem.

It is easy to get caught in a cycle of questioning yourself.

You consider the experience. You anticipate what might happen. You weigh the benefits against the effort. You try to decide whether it will be worthwhile before you have even arrived.

Eventually, the questions become a reason not to go.

I know this pattern because I experience it myself.

I can talk myself out of showing up when I cannot see the point of an experience. If I cannot identify what I will gain from it, I may decide that staying home makes more sense.

But I have to consider whether I am making an informed decision or simply trying to avoid uncertainty.

There is a difference.

Sometimes staying home is the right choice. I may be tired, need time alone, or recognize that an experience is not right for me.

Other times, I may be making assumptions about something I have not yet experienced.

I might decide that I will not enjoy myself, that I will have nothing to contribute, or that the effort will not be worth it. I can build an entire argument against participating without giving myself the opportunity to find out whether any of those assumptions are accurate.

That is where I begin to question the value of my own reasoning.

Understanding why I want to do something is useful. But do I need to know exactly what an experience will offer me before I allow myself to have it?

Some experiences only make sense once we are in them.

A conversation might introduce an idea I had never considered. Meeting someone might change how I understand a situation. An unfamiliar activity might reveal an interest I did not know I had.

I cannot anticipate all of that from home.

Sometimes the experience itself provides the answer that reflection could not.

This is where I see the value of connecting the third eye to the physical experience of showing up.

Insight is not only about understanding what is happening. It is also about recognizing the limits of what we can know before something happens.

We can consider our intentions, examine our assumptions, and make thoughtful decisions. But we also need to recognize when we are trying to predict an experience that has not yet occurred.

There are times when the most useful question is not whether I know an experience will be worthwhile, but whether I am willing to find out.

That does not mean saying yes to everything. It means recognizing when my hesitation is telling me something important and when it might simply be keeping me from trying.

I am still learning that distinction.

I want to make choices that reflect my needs and values. I also want to leave room for experiences that challenge my assumptions and change my perspective.

Those two things are not always easy to balance.

But perhaps that is part of the work.

Understanding why I show up matters. So does recognizing that I cannot always understand the value of an experience before I have had it.

Sometimes I need to think about it.

Sometimes I need to trust my judgment.

And sometimes I need to stop trying to anticipate every possible outcome, get dressed, and walk through the door.

I might discover that the experience was exactly what I needed.

I might discover that it was not for me.

Either way, I will know something I could not have known by staying home.

And that, in itself, has value.