Major insights in life can happen quite unexpectedly.
Though I did not know exactly why I was going or what would come of it, I knew months ago that I would spend this past weekend in Annapolis at a seminar featuring poet and international lecturer, David Whyte.
While I knew that Maryland would be heralding spring while here in Maine it still looked like deep winter, and that I could always use the CEU's for my counseling license, I had an intuitive hunch that another reason might emerge as the real explanation for my attendance.
The lecture hall at St. John's College was filled with anticipation when David addressed participants with his engaging and unique style of using poetry to inform and guide his audience through life's challenges. The theme of the weekend was "Exploring the Paradox: Navigating Through Life's Transitions", and David did not waste any time diving into the topic. Reciting words from Yeats, Shakespeare and his own poems, David presented us with moving examples of the essential tension we hold in our lives between safety and risk, love and grief and control and letting go.
All this was fascinating and informative. But it was this provocative question that moved me in a way I was not expecting. "What are you not experiencing in your life because of your focused attention on those things that make you feel in control or safe?
This question piqued my curiosity and imagination. While journaling and conversing with other participants, I realized that a shift had occurred within me. I found that I more fully understood that which theologian and author Thomas Moore referenced when he said "Deep changes follow shifts in the imagination."
I'm not at all clear how this shift will actually play out in my life, but like the Annapolis seminar, it will be just the right experience.
Here are some questions I'd like to pass on to you from the seminar:
- What need to control or fear is keeping your from a new and different life experience?
- When and how were you last inspired to change some aspect of your life?
- How could your imagination help you to expand or shift your perspective on something you desire?
Upcoming events featuring or sponsored by Heart At Work
April 4,5.6: Women's Life Expo, Portland. Barbara presents: Live Your Life. Love Your Work At Any Age.
April 12-May 1: Through the Portal, a personal and professional development series for women facilitated by Barbara Babkirk and Susanna Liller.
April 19-May 10: Saturday Career Workshop Series with Amy Jaffe
Details: http://www.barbarababkirk.com/amy.html
May 8: HR Conventionn at the Samoset Resort in Rockport: Barbara and Amy Jaffe, will co-present a workshop: "Averting Quarterlife and Midlife Crises in Your Workplace: 5 Key Retention Strategies".
September 21-27: Barbara's annual Women's Retreat in Provence.
Subscribe
