Start Small
My “Inner Critter” - handcrafted by Emily Carriero, fellow Coach as well as Environmental Science Educator - as a graduation gift from our Coaching For Transformation program
Hi there.
It’s been a while since I wrote. I needed some incubation time. To be honest I’m still incubating and I doubt I’ll ever stop cause that’s where all the juicy stuff happens right? But instead of using that as an excuse to shy away from writing, I decided it’s time to show up. I find sharing my voice incredibly vulnerable. I’m not used to it and it's uncomfortable. Maybe you might resonate. Maybe we can be together in the dance between our desire to connect and our questions of does what we have to say hold value.
It terrifies me, but I will be writing to you on every full and new moon. Simply to show up to my desire and with my inner critic (critter) lovingly in tow. Such a good little creature always trying to protect me from making an absolute fool of myself. But they’re also keeping me away from you, so enough is enough already!
I’ve been reflecting a lot on what brought me to coaching. It was the transformational power of holding intentional genuine and compassionate space for people night after night in well over 1000 immersive theater performances. Spaces where the audience can be invited in exactly as they are. For me, performing and creating experiences for people is not a one-way street. It’s not a look-at-me- or look-at-how-cool-this-is kinda thing. It’s a - hello, I see you, wherever you are in this moment, and wherever you are is exactly the right place, and here I am right here with you, and we are here together sorta thing. And because of that, anything is possible. It’s magic in the most intentional of ways.
In my conversation this past Fall with the very wise Noah Nelson of No Proscenium, I was trying to describe this very energetic invisible but palpable phenomenon- and he said (and I’m paraphrasing) it’s like holding a shape for someone to fit themselves into. How they fit in is totally up to them, but as shepherds of the experience, our job is to hold the shape. And to hold it in a way that the shape is clear enough for someone to see how they might fit and to feel safe enough to be themselves within it. And I was like, “Yes!!! That’s it!”
Or something like that - I forget exactly what I said, but it was one of those great light bulb moments. You can listen here to our delightfully imperfect in-the-moment conversation if you like.
And so it turns out, I am really good at holding space for people to feel seen and heard and to make powerful reflections that lead to personal transformation. I’m gonna go ahead and say there is always some kind of transformation that happens when we allow ourselves time and space to see and to listen, and to see ourselves reflected in one another. It could be as revelatory as stepping outside the haze of overwhelm to realize what’s really important and thus where to focus your energy. To finally name what’s been bothering you in order for that thing to begin to lessen it’s grip. Seeing something from a different point of view. Feeling the pain or joy (or both) of the moment where your heart is finally allowed to express what it really wants because you finally slowed down enough to hear it. Or it could be as cellular as your psoas gently releasing, or taking a deep breath. Whatever it may be, it’s impactful. Either way we are in some way changed. The opportunity to both facilitate and to witness this transformational space is what gives me the deepest joy. So now, in addition to holding space for people to see possibilities for connection and transformation in their lives from within the altered reality of immersive storytelling, I get to hold space for people to find those possibilities from within their actual reality. Person by person, this is how the world heals.
I keep being reminded by very smart people to start small and start with what is right in front of me. And to let that ripple out to the larger ecosystem however it does.
“Small is good, small is all (The large is a reflection of the small)” - adrienne maree brown, Emergent Strategy - Shaping Change and Shaping Worlds
And so I’ll leave you with a question for reflection:
Starting from where you are now - how can you continue transform your innate skills and deepest joys to meet the present moment? And what does starting small with that idea look like?
Happy Full Moon.