Insight 1: “I want to live the rest of my life with as much sweetness as I can decently manage, loving all the people I love, and doing as much as I can of the work I still have to do.” - Audre Lorde
After an unexpected trip to A&E this month (all is well) it hit home to more than ever how grateful I am to live this life in a way that honours my pace of life, the simple things, the people I love, my beloved work. This morning for example I played with flowers, washed the dishes, and went to the gym. It feels a wonderful life. I am acutely aware that if I was super stressed, those exact same things might have felt like a chore, or a waste/loss of time, or indeed an indulgence (as if enjoying things in life purely for what they are is not okay!). Many of us look at stress as some kind of enemy. It took me many years to realise that stress was simply the messenger telling me that I carried too many blind assumptions, too many inherited ideas about life, too many rigid expectations of myself and others and the world. Stress was my system crying out to myself to give myself time, to take better care, to be kinder to myself.
Insight 2: “In the face of horrors visited upon our world daily, in the struggle to protect our loved ones, choosing to let in joy is a revolutionary act. Joy returns us to everything that is good and beautiful and worth fighting for.” - VALARIE KAUR
When it comes to joy - we so often anticipate, and downright expect, its appearance in specific places. I have had clients achieve great things and feel nothing (or something unwelcome) during what they had expected to be a career defining moment. The whole thing about Joy is that it is an unpredictable, momentary feeling. It is organic and not to be tamed. It crops up in unexpected places and lights up the world like a beacon, and then it subsides and we are left, over time with a beautiful string of golden experiences imprinted into our system. We cannot plan it, force it, make it happen. We can put ourselves on potential paths and hope for openings, but it is never guaranteed. Small simple joys however, unlike the big bang expectations we carry, are far more available than we realise. Being present to them is the key. Flowers, a cup of tea, a hug. Whatever your flavour, the endless work is to call our attention back from the fractured electronic world we are so often inhabiting, and be with our simple pleasures now.
Insight 3: "When you understand every opinion is a vision loaded with personal history, you will start to understand that all judgment is a confession." - Nicola Tesla
People are constantly telling us about themselves - listen deeply enough and you will find a ton of insight and information. The key is to listen “as if” they are self-reflecting. So much of what we hear is projection, and it can really confuse, hurt and waste our time if we forget to remember that people are themselves not us.
Insight 4: “For the hero, fear is a challenge and a task, because only boldness can deliver from fear. And if the risk is not taken, the meaning of life is somehow violated, and the whole future is condemned to hopeless staleness” - Carl Jung
This quote from Jung is so rich. Fear is what has the potential to negate the energy of life, and if we don’t accept the task and challenge of taking fear on (which requires us to be bold!) then life and it’s meaning are violated. Our task according to Jung is to show up as best we can in the face of circumstances over which we may have no control whatsoever. What I hope and wish for us all is more access to our own energy in order to increase our capacity to exercise freedom. Our own inside energy is life, and so many of us get blocked from this by outside energies not designed for our life's fullest expression.
An extra share - my contribution to the AI generated LI article entitled "What do you do if your task list keeps growing and deadlines are looming?!".
AI listed the usual tips (prioritize, break tasks down, delegate effectively, leverage technology, stay flexible, and manage stress) but I wanted to add this.
There is one thing we all need to deeply recognise, which is is that deadlines and tasks come and go, but the stream of activity never actually ends. Once we acknowledge the truth of this, we move into a mental spaciousness that allows us far more choice and freedom to act from a place of proactivity rather than reactivity.
Also - efficiency is for cogs and machines. People are for living. If organisational systems require humans to be acting primarily as cogs then they are not fit for purpose. Get the mechanistic systems right enough and humans are freed to act from their organic nature.
On another note...
One of the huge upsides to being neurodivergent (exact flavour unknown!) is that when people talk to me, certain words "ping" - guiding us to the core of an issue. Sometimes words appear in my mind before they are used by the client. My body often gets involved too, I get shivers, goosebumps, and full body sensations like my nerves are ringing with truth. I am ever grateful to work in this integrative and integrated way with wonderful people across the world.
P.S...Here are three more ways you can experience my work...
1 - Tailored Resources - simply let me know via email what you are working through and I will send you some helpful pointers and materials
2 - Half day Deep dive - four hours of deeply focused time working through whatever it is you want to bring
3 - Full day immersion - this is a sacred time for magical unfolding, where we get to explore whatever emerges with no limit on where the time takes us
I love to connect - please do leave a comment or share with someone you think this might benefit.
