Are you living as a noun or a verb?

/
 

Fun fact, these words can be both nouns and verbs:

  • surprise

  • milk

  • answer

  • time

  • garden

  • water

  • hug

  • toast

  • play

There are many more, but it is fun to realize how our intent can change the meaning of a word. 

This week I want you to think about how many of the things we long to be in our careers or hobbies are nouns and yet it's the verb that brings us joy. 

A client of mine asked, "how do I know when I become an artist?" My response was, "you are creating art, therefore you are an artist."

And then I started thinking about what we both were saying beneath the words. She wants someone to tell her she is an artist. She can't see that in herself yet. But, art is her lifeline, her oxygen, her voice...she is an artist in her soul and it pours out on the canvas. She was born an artist, she doesn't have to become one. She already is the thing she wants to be.

We want the world to recognize us as a noun...a do-er of the thing we want to do. We want to become something that has an identity. But, it is in the doing where we actually feel alive? And sometimes, when we become the noun, we lose the joy of the verb. 

Be a verb, rather than a noun. Be alive and doing the thing you love. 

Read this list and notice if you are hoping to become a noun. Do you long for an identity? You are a person doing the verb, so if you want the noun, do the verb. And the secret is, if you are doing the verb, you are already the noun. You get to decide when you become the thing you want to be, not anyone else. 

If you want to be this noun, do this verb:

dancer - dance
writer - write
teacher - teach
painter - paint
leader - lead
doctor - help
singer - sing
engineer - plan
speaker - speak
designer - design
lawyer - seek justice
runner - run
baker - bake
scholar - study
architect - envision
actor - act
thankful - thank
lover - love

We spend so much time wishing we were something, wishing we were recognized, longing to be seen as we want to be seen, dreaming of becoming. 

What do you want to be? Do it. Now you are that. 

I want to be a writer. I'm writing. I am a writer. 

See how this works?

You already are the thing you want to be. Be alive in that awareness and enjoy the ride! 

Sending you love,