What do you really want?

“We cannot give you anything you do not ask for.”

I needed quiet to contemplate this, something I’d heard when I woke up, so I took my tea and toast outside. After a couple of very cold days, it has dawned sunny and mild again.

I turned my chair side on so that the sun was on my right, and not shining in my eyes. What incredible warmth the sun gives, how incredibly bright it is, even on a midwinter day.

“We cannot give you anything you do not ask for. You must ask for it.”

I took a sip of tea and looked to my left. Two thrush were sitting in the rimu tree that grows on the bank of the creek, facing the sun. They were very still. Though it was too far to see, I’m sure their eyes were closed. They seemed to be basking in the warmth. There was no singing, no moving, no surveying the lawn for food. Their work was already done.

They had risen early and sung to claim their territory; using their voice to draw the boundaries, they declared what it is they really want. Each morning they do this—they wake and sing their life into the air.

“We cannot give you anything you do not ask for. You must ask for it.” As Rumi says, “you must ask for what you really want”.

In a world burdened by overconsumption, this can seem profane. Except that what we really want is never ‘more stuff’. ‘More stuff’ is what we accumulate when we are out of touch with who we are and what we really truly want. ‘More stuff’ is what we do to fill the hole left by not honestly answering the question—what do you really want?

This question is about our innate creative force, our desire to keep evolving into who we are. It is how we as individuals, and as a species, continue to expand into and beyond ourselves.

Asking ourselves this question, and knowing its true answer, is how we right our ship. It is how we get back on track. It is a place to return to over and over again when we feel lost.

What do I really want?

When clearly stated, properly understood and honestly answered, the question is not profane. It is profound.

“We cannot give you anything you do not ask for. You must ask for it.”

Maybe this is our dawn chorus. Maybe we wake into our day, and sing our life into being with what we say we really want. Maybe then, our true work done, we can rest on a branch in the sun for a little while, eyes closed.