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Join me in inspiring truly powerful people. Each day I will add a new thought, story or idea to support your quest and mine.
Most stories are about changing from one way of being to another way of being. Sometimes the change is forced upon you before you think you are ready. Sometimes you seek it. The process is generally messy and the outcome is rarely what you’d imagined when the story began; usually, it is better than you’d imagined.
In 1998, I left the work that I’d created for myself, work that was secure, creative, challenging and I’d assumed mine to my death. I ran a theatre company during the summer months and a communications academy in the winter. Both were odd-ball programs imbedded within a school district. Despite the endless hoops and regulation-manipulations necessary to keep peace within a hopelessly broken education system, I could do what I wanted to do, create what I believed to be helpful for students and myself, and explore new territory. The theatre and the academy were magical places; students transformed, teachers took risks, daydreaming was valued because it always led to, “what if…?”
One August day while writing the final report for the summer theatre, I found myself concluding the report with a letter of resignation. I was seized with the need to go; I could not stay another day. I had no plan and meager savings. It was not the first leap I’d taken and would not be the last but at the time it felt like madness, like I was leaping for the sake of leaping (my inner monologue screamed, “Don’t do it! Take this year and make a plan. Make a plan! Don’t be foolish!”).
I have never been good at ignoring inner imperatives. My inner Virgil is an impatient man and deeply values the hidden treasure in, “What if…?” It is true that sometimes I chastise myself for believing in “What if…?” but mostly I say to myself, “Why not? If we can create this why can’t we create that?”
This week I worked with teachers who are routinely abused for asking, “What if…?” I feel as if I just landed from the leap I took so many years ago. It just occurred to me that my work in this world is to marry these phrases, “What if…?” and “Why not?”
What if you loosened the nozzle that shuts down the flow of your dreams? Why not open the cage and see what is possible beyond the bars?
Filed under: Awakening, Truly Powerful People |
The Direction of Intention 
David, our conversation was one of the most important conversations I’ve ever had. I’ve learned in my 11 years of teaching and in my years of being a student that my voice really isn’t that important, that someone else who has more power has the final say. In the few minutes I spoke with you, I felt understood. You championed the risks I’ve taken with students, and you understood where I was coming from with my “What if..?” philosophy of life. I feel support, where in the past, I fought against being shut down. You heard me. Thank you. Beth