#144 – Is wanting worth it?

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Last Sunday, during my coffee-machine demo shift, a young woman with two tween daughters approached my station. She darted to one particular machine, caressing it almost with lust. "I love this," she said. "I want this machine. I've seen it on TikTok."

Before I could respond, she swept past me, continuing her brisk walk toward the escalator.

The brief encounter left me wondering – what's the nature of wanting? Where does it come from (other than Tik-Tok)? Why do we want things (material or immaterial)? And more importantly, does our wanting influence what we end up getting?

Earlier this year, I created a journal to help people "manifest their dreams" (as if). In it, which I naively titled, From Dream to Done!, I directed the user to engage with their "high dream" (i.e., their biggest, strongest want) every day for 90 days.

I tried the journal myself and, after day 35, my mood had become dark blue. Bringing my "wants" to mind every day was making me face what I didn't have. I was fixated on those things I'd put a date to getting and, as the date approached, I became more and more certain that the world didn't work like that.

Today, after watching my mind to unfold for the past 144 days through these essays, I ask myself (and you):

• If events that involve us are inevitable, what's the use of wanting?
• If the highest state in life is one where we accept what is, isn't wanting a hurdle?
• Does wanting fuel attachment, which will always make us unhappy?

Like other Ego-driven mental states, wanting takes us to an empty feeling of discontentment (since we'll always want something else).

The alternative to wanting must then come from the True Self, and in order to hear what the it tells us, we need to stop listening to the Ego chatter.

Only then can we hear our deepest "wants." Isn't that inspiration?

What would you hear if you only heard your True Self's voice?

Love,

Carolina