I have listened to fewer podcasts than usual in recent months, as I used to turn them on in the car. I rarely drive anywhere anymore. But today, I drove down from our cottage on my own and savoured the two hours of solitude and what felt like a rich conversation with two people I admire, Brene Brown and Priya Parker.
Just before tuning in, I was putting the finishing touches on today’s blog, in preparation for writing it as soon as I got back to my desk. What I heard changed my plans.
Priya Parker’s wide-ranging insights about things to consider as we return to in-person gathering are so on-point that I just want to encourage you to listen to them directly. It will be an hour very well spent.
I could pull out so many gems. For now, this encouragement sticks in my mind:
Transitioning back may be harder than we think. Let’s create spaces for meaningful talk about how we want to do it, intentionally, based on what we’ve learned, rather than jumping too quickly to the logistics of how it will all happen.
Awaiting me in my mailbox at home was a book of poems by David Whyte. The first one in the collection contains this:
Start right now
take a small step
you can call your own
don’t follow
someone else’s
heroics, be humble
and focused,
start close in,
don’t mistake
that other
for your own.
Start close in,
don’t take
the second step
or the third,
start with the first
thing
close in,
the step
you don’t want to take.
If you’d like to book some time with me to talk about how you and your team plan to re-gather, and what values and voices you’d like to centre in the process, I’d be honoured to hear from you.
Liminal spaces like the one we’re in can be so hard and also so generative. Be encouraged as you navigate these exciting, difficult times.