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The Empty Middle of the Purpose-Driven Creator

She told me she was waiting for the unlock.

She was waiting for the flow. Waiting for the universe to crack something open in her life. Waiting for the moment when the work she felt called to do finally became the work that could fund her life.

But identity-wise, she was more clear than ever.

She knew she was a creator. A healer. Someone who could hold space for others and help them love themselves again. She was running events, getting on calls, recording videos every week, and doing the work she used to only dream about doing.

She was doing the thing.

She was living her purpose.

The problem was that the outside world had not fully caught up yet. She was not earning a full-time living from the work. The path felt undeniable, but it did not feel secure. She said she trusted it even though she did not see the path.

It reminded me of something the poet David Whyte once said when he was asked how you know you’re truly on your path in life:

That’s where she was.

The disappearing path place. The pathless path.

The part where the old life no longer fits, and going back would feel like self-betrayal. But the new life has not fully formed yet. So she wanted some kind of sign. Some kind of confirmation to keep digging, or some kind of redirection that told her to dig somewhere else.

I said, “You’re getting the sign—you’re just not seeing it.”

The sign is nothing.

• Nothing happening.
• Nothing showing up fast enough.
• Nothing proving that the work is working.
• Nothing giving her the reflection she craved from the outside world.

And that nothing was exactly what she was trying to escape.

Because she had already stabilized her identity. She was not trying to become the creator, the guide, and the woman doing the purposeful work she spent years dreaming about. She was already living it each week.

But she was still looking outward for that identity to be validated.

She was still looking for a fingerprint match.

Money would mean it was real. More followers would mean it was real. Opportunities would mean it was real. Someone else recognizing the work would mean she had permission to fully trust who she had become.

Understandable — but maybe that empty middle is central to the process.

So the mind starts reaching.

Maybe I am falling behind. Maybe I need to learn another skill. Maybe I should go back to what I was doing. Maybe I need to do something else.

But maybe… the work is not to make the path appear.

By doing what is already in front of you.

In her case, that meant to keep going… to keep owning her identity.

You still guide others. You still plan the events. You still hit record every week.

You still do the next thing in front of you that life is asking you to do. But you stop needing life to confirm the identity before you fully trust it.

Maybe the sign is nothing.

And maybe nothing is the space exactly where you need to be.
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If this speaks to you, I recently created a short worksheet for people who feel called to more heart-centered or creative work but are still clarifying what that looks like. You can download it here →​

And if you download it, hit reply and tell me about the work you're doing or aspiring to do as a creator.

I’d love to hear about it.

Anthony V. Lombardo