What is Life Trying to Tell You?

Weekly wisdom to level up your creative life in 3 minutes, for free.

A SHORT STORY

The other day, I was sitting in the barber chair when my hairstylist shared a story that stayed with me.

He said, “I had this dream where my Grandmother was talking with my colleague. But it wasn’t my colleague as I know her now—it was an older version, the same age as my Grandmother. Suddenly, in the dream, that colleague was shaving my head. Then I woke up.”

He continued, “The next day, I told my colleague about the dream. She was shocked—her Grandmother had passed away the night before, and I had no idea. Right then, I felt like the dream was trying to tell me something. So I shaved my head.”

As he shared this, I told him that in some Asian cultures, shaving your head is a symbol of mourning and starting fresh. Maybe, I suggested, the dream was his own self offering a message to let go.

But most importantly, I said, “Wow, you really listened to what the universe was telling you.”

That moment got me thinking about the power of listening—not just hearing, but truly paying attention. It made me wonder how often we stop to ask ourselves: What are the things I don’t know? What am I not seeing? What truths am I avoiding?

It’s easy to resist this process, especially when it’s uncomfortable. We distract ourselves, deny the challenge, or pretend it isn’t there. But what if these moments—the strange, unsettling, or inexplicable ones—are the universe’s way of nudging us forward?

The story of my hairstylist reminds me that listening is an act of courage. It means facing the unknown and leaning into the discomfort of change.

So, the next time life offers you a challenge or a mystery, ask yourself: What is this trying to teach me? Who do I need to become to meet this moment?

Because in the end, life isn’t about having all the answers. As Rilke once wrote, it’s about living the questions now.

And perhaps the most important question of all is this: Am I listening deeply enough to hear what life is trying to tell me?

How can you take a moment today to pause and listen—to yourself, to others, or to the quiet messages the world might be offering you?

A CREATIVE TOOL

myaesthetic.ai

View more on Instagram

A PIECE OF ART

“The Blessing of the Morning Light” by David Whyte

The blessing of the morning light to you,
may it find you even in your invisible
appearances, may you be seen to have risen
from some other place you know and have known
in the darkness and that that carries all you need.

May you see what is hidden in you
as a place of hospitality and shadowed shelter,
may what is hidden in you become your gift to give,
may you hold that shadow to the light
and the silence of that shelter to the word of the light,
may you join every previous disappearance
with this new appearance, this new morning,
this being seen again, new and newly alive.

Grateful,

Michael