The Will That Leads You to Contemplate Masterpieces
- Amazonia Arroyo
- May 19, 2024
- 4 min read
The alarm clock rings, 5:50 am, I get up, I get dressed half asleep and half awake, I pack my bag, towel, and blanket for the sand. My mind tells me, how cozy my bed was, I observe the thought and maintain equanimity. I am motivated by the masterpiece I am about to witness, I don't self-sabotage and I continue. I don't know how it will be today; this masterpiece shows itself differently every day.
I bring hot water to regulate my body. Thomas thinks we are going for a walk, but no. I say goodbye to him, pick up my bike, and set off. I head to watch the sunrise, to root my feet in the cold sand and take a bath while I observe this natural and completely free spectacle.
What moves me to see this masterpiece? Willpower. There is something that moves me in every change, in every situation I go through, and today I will call this: willpower. The same that makes me go to my yoga session, that takes me out of my comfort zone because through Ashtanga yoga, everything that happens on a mental level is translated onto the mat and seeing my strengths and weaknesses reflected through my body takes a lot of willpower.
What I learned in vipassana: Breathe, observe, and equanimity. Practicing it daily requires immense willpower and a state of consciousness that takes you completely off autopilot. I thought about it yesterday while observing a very strong emotion I was feeling, and I simply remembered: Breathe, observe, and maintain equanimity, embrace the process.
According to the Royal Spanish Academy, the concept of will:
The faculty of deciding and directing one's own behavior.
An act by which the volitive power admits or rejects something, wanting it, or abhorred and repugnant.
Free will or free determination.
The choice of something without a precept or external impulse that compels it. Natalia, a chiropractor in Cambridge, a woman who loves what she does, told me: “Amazonia, a person is not going to make a change if I go and give them advice, no. That person must seek me out, they must have the will to want to make the change.” Willpower demands congruence, compassion, responsibility and listening to ourselves, but literally sitting down and having a conversation. Who am I? What do I want? Does this align with me? Does this really make me happy? It requires a sincerity that may lead us to let go of what we held onto for a long time, believing that it was what we wanted.
The will that comes from our most authentic self asks us to strip down, let go of the ego.
Willpower is also accompanied by doing what we like and what moves our soul. Does this make me happy?
The evolution of my relationship with my will has made me connect with compassion and responsaility, as I get to know myself more and more, it has made me be compassionate with others and give space and deeply understand the following message from Charles Chaplin:
“When I started loving myself, I began to perceive that it is offensive to try to force some situation or person, just to achieve what I want, even knowing that it is not the right time, or the person is not ready, including myself. Today I know that the name of this is… Respect.”
I have also learned that sometimes I have a lot of willpower, but sometimes it is not the right time, I am not ready. Yesterday, the yoga teacher told me: it is not about reaching the last pose of Ashtanga. The reason the teacher does not allow you to move to the next pose if you cannot breathe well and hold yourself in a pose is because you are not ready. You need to breathe well and be able to hold the pose; this allows you to enter the next one. WALA!
This reminded me that a year ago I started with the desire to write my book, but at that moment I was not prepared in mind, body, and soul. I had to integrate and live so many things to be able to truly create from my authenticity and not from impulse. Today I feel in such a different place and connected with myself, today I can create from happiness and I understand why my creative energy did not flow at that moment.
In this writing, I want to leave you several messages to reflect on:
Is your willpower align with the congruence of your being?
Respect for the path of others.
Being compassionate in your entire process to be able to be compassionate with others.
Go out and watch that masterpiece of the sunrise, work on your willpower even in the small things.
Recommendations of the week:
A question: How do you connect with your artistic side? Do you make space for this?
A singer: Sarah Dowlin from Palestina https://open.spotify.com/artist/3BxyYQrVuLHFGjU4ZVpsWg?si=uJcKyIWxTNCb_LNIpyv9Ow
A movie: The Sea Inside
Podcast: The limitless power of an alcohol-free https://open.spotify.com/episode/5SQrUV1WQ6nXTEDyM2fQKZ?si=72ef788e19c64ee5
I invite you to our next outdoor retreat in Cambridge. Tickets: Eventbrite
Thank you for reading, I write to you from my happy place: Valencia, Spain
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