When you put something out into the world (such as a book or a blog or a retreat…), it’s hard to predict which bits will stick — with you or those who participate.
I’m about a month out from the “Reimagine your Story” retreat Lisa Gerber and I hosted in Provence. For me, it was a very memorable week, with lots of takeaways and precious moments. But there are a few elements that are popping into my mind more often than others so far, and I thought you might enjoy them.
- We set ourselves the challenge of writing down 100 wants. (Not easy, and more fun in a group, in case you’re wondering). The simultaneous joy and challenge of that task have stuck with me, but more specifically the fact that several women included “Michelle Obama arms” on their list! Follow up question: “Am I willing to do what it takes to get what I want?”
- As someone who wallows in too many metaphors, there was one that jumped out of our experience of canoeing down a glorious river together. I was in the back of our three-person boat, responsible for steering. The current would sometimes carry us (not always in our preferred direction) but sometimes it wouldn’t. In an effort to invite my paddling companions to paddle a bit more vigorously, at one point I said, “I can’t steer when this boat’s not moving!” And then I think I gasped out loud. What a perfect illustration for the point we were discussing that very day about reimagining our next chapter: we need to try stuff. Do something. Action precedes clarity. It’s hard to steer our boat when it’s not moving.
- And the light. The dappled light of September in Provence. As one woman said, “I want to bottle it up. Or invent a machine that will make my home look and feel like this.” Yes.
You may be in a position of doing, saying or writing things, and you’re not sure if they’re landing. My guess is that they are, in small insights and joys that emerge and re-emerge over time, across ripples we’ll never fully know. Keep going.
