Desire is one of your most powerful experiences. There is a heat. You feel it slow burning beneath the surface, or sometimes it overwhelms and threatens to engulf you in flames.
It can be scary. It can show up with friends you don’t want to see. Fear. Anxiety. Vulnerability. Disappointment. Longing. Helplessness.
It can feel exhilarating, and out of control. It carries an edge of danger. Playing with fire, they say. Be careful what you wish for, they say.
And yet: allow desire. Become intimate with it. Feel it in your body. Let it melt over your tongue and slip down your throat. Feel how it changes your breath. Feel where it stirs and melts your flesh. Allow it to saturate and set your bones alight.
Desire wants your attention. Listen. Find out what it’s trying to tell you.
Write it down or practice saying out loud, Even though _______, I desire. . .
Even though it’s impractical.
Even though it’s silly.
Even though it makes no sense.
Even though it’s highly unlikely.
Even though I have no idea why.
Even though I feel weird about it.
I desire.
What do you desire? What is your desire telling you?
Notice. And then you say: How fascinating! And then decide what action, if any, to take.
Let desire be your ally. Respect it. Pay attention. It’s not a bully, not an enemy, not the CEO of you. Let it be a partner, an experience to taste in all its rich and bitter-sweet heat. See if you can identify it even when surrounded by its unwelcome friends. See what happens if you offer the whole lot of them a cup of tea and tell them, “Now if you don’t mind, I’d like to hear what Desire has to say.”
Be curious. Savor all of it.
Kim Nicol 