Exploring Motivation & Letting the Light In

“Forget your perfect offering…There is a crack, a crack in everything…that’s how the light gets in…" ~Leonard Cohen

Lately I’ve been exploring motivation…not as in: “I need to get motivated,” but more like: “What is my motivation?” This can be a valuable, and humbling, exercise. It’s a lens through which we can observe our actions. We might bring the inquiry in as we step onto our mats. Revisiting our underlying intentions for the practice beyond “This is what I do on Tuesday mornings” can be illuminating. It might help reinvigorate a stagnant practice. It might help steady a practice that feels all over the place.

Of course, we can examine our motivations behind most everything that we do. Exploring motivation is an exercise in honesty with oneself. Why am I really doing what I’m doing? Which is why Leonard Cohen’s words above are so reassuring. When I find a bit of ego, doubt, or aversion lurking behind the “perfect” offering of my actions (or thoughts or speech), I can bow to that “crack,” and adjust my sails accordingly. If we don’t look, we won’t see. That’s how the light gets in.

(Originally shared: March 2024 newsletter)