Two beautiful definitions that Jonathan Foust shared with me the other day. Hearing them made me exhale and relax. The power and impact of these quotes are still swimming in and taking up residence in my heart. I thought that they may inspire and resonate with many of you.
FEAR
Fear…maybe we could think of the energy that we label “fear” as“creative dynamic tension waiting to be unleashed.”
Wow. Doesn’t this make “fear” sound more approachable? Less scary? Doesn’t it sound more like such energy holds the power of our unfolding, our transformation rather than something to be avoided? When Jonathan shared this with me, I felt “less scared” to go into my fears and was able to see the energy of fear as a force that is actually “on my side” and is about my true expression of self in the world rather than something that is “against me” and keeping me down. I saw the energy of fear as something to be harnessed and expressed rather than contained and controlled.
What would it look like for you to think of your fears in such a way — as creative energy wanting to have your attention and waiting to be unleashed…for your own becoming?
A TEACHER
A teacher is “someone who shares the radiance of her own discoveries.”
What ease this evokes in me as I sit with what makes a leader, a teacher, and as I deepen my practice and experience of being both with my own children as well as clients and students. This definition conjures up an image of someone who sits with, wrestles with, struggles with, lets go of, softens around, embraces, and allows herself to be transformed by her own vulnerabilities, fears, grief, history, and experiences…AND TEACHING FROM THIS SPACE.
It is when she does this that the layers shed, revealing her Self and the gems of wisdom and light that shine there. “Teaching” from this space is less about perfecting the information presented and the message shared and more about “transmission” and “accompaniment” and “presence.” This definition brings an exhale to my heart — and inspires me to REST IN MY TRUE NATURE as I serve others — as a mom, therapist…and teacher.
How does this definition ease your load as a parent, manager, boss?
Blessings,