AtQ – What Compels Me?

A question into the inner world.

The experimentation continues here on The Notes. You may have noticed that Talking Notes have gotten a little longer, and Studio Notes are becoming semi consistent – I’m aiming for a biweekly rhythm there. For this week’s Asking the Questions, I’m going to try something a little different, too. Instead of a series of questions, meant to work in sequence, I’m going to focus on one question. After reading, would you let me know what you think of this new format? I’m interested in your feedback.

In this week’s Talking Note I recount the story of how two books about World War II, reconnected me with my Dad’s personality and character. Neither the purchase, experience, nor specific outcome (feeling reconnected), were planned. They were all inspired.

I’ve been thinking about inspiration a lot lately. That is, the spirit within us that motivates action. The idea of spirit may bring up a number of different thoughts and feelings. I have found a definition from Dallas Willard to be beneficial in grounding my ideas around spirit. In his book Renovation of the Heart, Willard defines spirit aunbodily, personal power. Spirit is not tied to the physical body, though it does activate it. It is personal – has character and direction. It is power, that is energy, and that which facilitates the ability to act.

One might say that there was a particular spirit within me that compelled me to search the book section at Costco, that allowed my eye to be caught by the two books I saw, purchase the books, and find and protect enough time in my day to read them. I might describe it as a spirit of love towards my dad. I was energized in a particular way such that those actions were the natural outcome of that time. The actions were not forced, manipulated, imposed, or somehow otherwise brought about. I didn’t feel obliged to by the books – I wanted to. The actions came easily.

Questions are meant to create awareness. This is especially true when considering unseen dynamics, like a spirit that is at work in us. With that in mind, here is the question that I’m asking myself this week:

“What am I being compelled by?”