Lifequester: a word that I love

I didn’t call this blog „A Life Quest“ by accident. While realizing that I felt stuck in my life, I became very inspired by the ideas Colin Beavan shared in his book „HOW TO BE ALIVE, A guide to the kind of happiness that helps the world“.

His ideas helped me to discover a new frame, a new way of thinking about my life and myself. It helped me to reconcile my needs to live a good happy life with my wish to “change the world”.

A Life Quest is about the journeys of Lifequesters

In his book Colin Beavan defined a new word, which I love:

Lifequester

1. Someone who tries to understand her True Nature and uses that understanding to make a better life for herself and others.
2. A person who attempts to live his own values rather than society’s and is excited by what he might discover.
3. Someone who has faith that letting go of limiting stories about herself and the world will allow something wonderful to open up.
4. A fun-loving, wicked cool person.

The four definitions express different shades of the same core concept: there is an “inner voice”, that when let free, makes wonderful things happen.

When a person – a Lifequester – decides to explore and listen to this inner voice, she accesses the part of her being that feels, is deep-loving, fun and creative. It allows her to feel connected to the own way of being and also to others. It is as if the signals of a sensor, which were ignored by the “control tower” for quite a while, are seen again by Lifequesters. This signals from the inner voice become a key part of their decision-making process.

In the past, I heard that “inner voice”

I remembered that I had heard that “inner voice” on many occasions in the past. As a child it was almost omnipresent: joy, fun, love, but also fear, anger or deception were guiding me. I was living in the moment, not differentiating between you and me: I felt the suffering of my mom as if it was mine. Later in life, I felt this deep connection and feeling of “being alive” when I fell in love: that was when I felt like being one with my partner and one with the world.

Over the years it became more and more difficult to fall in love. I mostly heard and followed this other inner voice telling me what I “have to do”. It was mainly during weekends or after work, in moments where I did sports and was outdoors, that I felt that playful joy while being connected to people and the world again.

Laughing with the team while making a point during a volleyball match, admiring the beauty of the mountains during a hike, or singing a song with friends while sitting around the fireplace. In those moments everything felt “right” again.

I did not want to feel alive just in a fraction of my life

Realizing that the time I spend feeling alive and hearing this voice of joy and love was getting less, year after year, really scared me. I wanted to live a fun, life in which I was a loving person feeling alive!

The idea of being a Lifequester gave me hope. Being a person working on herself, feeling connected to the own centre and from that place contribute to making something good happen in the world was something that made sense to me.

I knew that embarking in the “Lifequester journey” will be an adventure: I would change. I would have to let go past habits and learn to discern and abandon stories society, my family and myself put up to make sense of the world. But as I felt that my life did not make sense anymore, I was ready for that. I knew that I would have to get into this uncertain place of not being anymore who I was, without knowing who I would become.

But I had this hope in my heart, that life would become so much better and more fun if I would follow my inner voice again. I was so sick of feeling half (at most) alive and had the sensation that after all, my work as a social entrepreneur was not driving the impact I really was here to make happen.

I embarked in my Lifequester journey and my heart took fire

As I read the definition of Colin I felt that we can all be Lifequesters, if we decide to. I already met many people that transformed their way of looking at themselves and life. They fascinated and encouraged me to believe that more than what I now believe to be possible, is possible.

Now, over one year later, this tiny light of hope became a fire. I changed my life: I moved to a new country, met a man I love, reoriented myself professionally and little by little do more of what I feel I’m called to do. I work as a coach with Lifequesters, help them to find their path, and organise retreats in nature to provide spaces for transformation.

I feel peaceful and joyful; struggle on how to figure out things; still feel like a hybrid being, some days caught in whom I was, and other days being whom I seek to be. But now I have a clear vision in my heart, of the joyful and meaningful life I wish to live, which is guiding and motivating me.

Thank you, Colin Beavan, for coming up with the Lifequester word and many more ideas.

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