The most difficult period of my adult life was the decades (yep, decades) I spent feeling sure that the 50 or 60 hours a week of work I felt driven to do weren’t making the world a better place. While I was grateful to have a steady, better-than-decent paycheck, robust health-care benefits, paid vacations, and sick days, there was always a quiet voice telling me that something wasn’t right. I didn’t feel that I was making a meaningful contribution to humanity by selling widgets or e-widgets or investments.
And I didn’t hear that subtle voice telling me what I should do, which was really annoying.
I remember working with the popular book, “What Color is Your Parachute: A Practical Manual for Job Hunters and Career Changers,” thinking, “Yes. Practical. I’m a practical gal. I’ve got to figure this out, and that’s exactly what I need, a practical manual for resolving the emptiness I feel inside!”
OK, I wasn’t quite that clear on the emotional component. (Irony tends to escape me when I’m activated.)
I was so sure that I just needed more focus, that figuring-it-out was what I had to do. I bought that book, more than once, and I repeatedly failed to make that practical shit work for me.
Eventually, I just quit my job, let go of my identity as corporate rain-maker, and spent 18 months wondering what the hell I’d do next.
Had I known that there were ways to explore meaningful work without burning everything to the ground, perhaps I would have taken advantage of the powerful medicine I’ve since found in metaphor, the subconscious mind’s best and easiest truth-telling method.
The moment I understood its power, I bet everything on it, creating a coaching practice and a signature program based on the metaphors we don’t even realize are calling to us, providing answers when we need them most.
What’s got you saying, “If I could just. figure. this. out!”?
If your day-to-day life leaves little space for gentle pondering or if you’re wondering where you might bring more meaning and fulfillment to your life, join me for the next Through Your Own Lens® full day retreat on Saturday, April 22, 2023. We’ll explore what might be calling to you with its gentle, quiet voice of truth, whether it’s about your work in the world, your relationships and connections, your creativity, or your understanding of yourself.
Space will be limited, so start below with a $100 down payment today to reserve your spot, or pay in full to register. $425 fee includes retreat, catered lunch, wine & cheese end-of-day “epiphany hour,” and a Zoom call on Tuesday, May 2nd to gather again as a group and talk about how you’ve processed and integrated what you experienced at the retreat.
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