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Advent Reflections for Single Parents & Other Rare Species 9

December 9th

Thinking of Others

Today I am late writing because I have been thinking of others. Tomorrow I am hosting an English advent day of making Christmas Wreaths and decorating the Christmas tree for some of my foreign alumni. So I have been scouring the shops for all I need. Certainly thinking of others is a really good way to avoid falling into an advent funk! There are almost always others who have less than we do, or have more reason to suffer.

This poem about #kindness resonated with me today:

Kindness

Before you know what kindness really is

you must lose things,

feel the future dissolve in a moment

like salt in a weakened broth.

What you held in your hand,

what you counted and carefully saved,

all this must go so you know

how desolate the landscape can be

between the regions of kindness.

How you ride and ride

thinking the bus will never stop,

the passengers eating maize and chicken

will stare out the window forever.

 

Before you learn the tender gravity of kindness,

you must travel where the Indian in a white poncho

lies dead by the side of the road.

You must see how this could be you,

how he too was someone

who journeyed through the night with plans

and the simple breath that kept him alive.

 

Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,

you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.

You must wake up with sorrow.

You must speak to it till your voice

catches the thread of all sorrows

and you see the size of the cloth.

 

Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore,

only kindness that ties your shoes

and sends you out into the day to mail letters and purchase bread,

only kindness that raises its head

from the crowd of the world to say

It is I you have been looking for,

and then goes with you everywhere

like a shadow or a friend.

 

– Naomi Shihab Nye https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naomi_Shihab_Nye

Until I looked her up to include this link, I hadn’t realised that her father was Palestinian. It seems especially pertinent and poignant to include it under the circumstances….

To connect with me, look here: https://www.creativetransformation.org.uk/contact-me-2/

 

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Advent Reflections for Single Parents & Other Rare Species 8

December 8th

The Difficult Art of Forgiveness

 

The Difficult Art of Forgiveness..

I am a firm believer that Nelson Mandela would not have been able to lead the country without that 27 year stint in prison..https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_Mandela

So often great art, music and literature is born out of great pain. However, it would seem that great art can still be made without its creator dealing with his/her demons.

I don’t think the same is true of the task that Mandela undertook of uniting and leading a country that was riven by decades of hatred, oppression and war. A task like that requires a depth of demon slaying that few people ever achieve. The key, it seems to me, was his ability to forgive. And his understanding that without the ability to leave his bitterness and hatred behind him as he left prison, meant that he would still effectively be there.

Why is it so hard to be able to truly leave bitterness behind and embrace forgiveness, even when we know that bitterness imprisons us?

It was my choice to eventually leave my marriage after many years of joint counselling and more of despair. So I have not had to deal with the incredible difficulty of being left, when I wanted something to continue. However, the process of our divorce felt very unjust to me, and I have lived for many years with a level of financial insecurity that has been challenging. (I write ‘a level of..’ deliberately, because I am aware that I am still much better off than many who have faced divorce – and all sorts of other injustices.)

There is an awareness in me, that had I made a greater financial success of these post-divorce years, I would have found it easier to release any sense of injustice, and that is down to me (and various life events, including a little thing called covid). But none of the apparent injustices I experienced even make it onto the light end of the scale of those faced by Mandela and the millions of South Africans who happened to be a different colour from those in power. Yet he managed it, and that stands as a challenge to me, and to all who have suffered injustice.

At this time of midwinter and the turning of the year, I invite you (and me) to take time to reflect on what you have allowed to imprison you. Is the difficulty of letting go hatred, bitterness, anger, frustration, and powerlessness greater than the cost of remaining in prison?

What is the key that would open your prison door?

To find out more about me and my work, look here: https://www.creativetransformation.org.uk/about-2/ or to get in touch to tell me your story, or for help unpicking the knots in your life, look here: https://www.creativetransformation.org.uk/contact-me-2/

And please feel free to share this post with anyone you know who may be struggling at this time. See you tomorrow!

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Advent Reflections for Single Parents & Other Rare Species 7

December 7

Learning from ‘Failure’

 

Learning from failure – yesterday I fell down. I’m choosing not to call it failure. At some late stage of the evening, I realised I had not kept to my commitment to do a daily blog. You may imagine the ensuing internal dialogue.

“Hmm, you can’t even manage 6 consecutive days!” Are you really going to fail to keep to your commitment?

“Well, I’m not sure I have anything of value to say today.”

”I’m sure you could think of something if you could be bothered to put your mind to it.”

” Well I’m not sure anyone would even notice! It’s not as though anyone seems to be reading it, or commenting, or re-posting or sharing it. Maybe I can just skip a day and nobody will notice.” (They did!)

”That’s not the point. You made a commitment to yourself. And you know that a large part of the point of writing a blog like this is to help keep yourself on track at what has historically been a difficult time of year for you. So what does it mean to give up on yourself so soon? Don’t you have any staying power?”

”You know what? I used to think that was true, but I have proved myself wrong! You know the weekly meditation I started running to make sure I started my week on a positive footing? 7 years!!! 7 years, without fail, other than a couple of Mondays when I was sick or travelling. I’ve run that meditation from England, France, Italy, South Africa and Australia! So there! 

And what about my Italian learning? I’ve got a 455 day streak on Duolingo, and it would have been almost double that if they hadn’t changed the cutoff time and I hadn’t gone walking in the bush for 5 days!”

“I agree about the meditation – that’s really something – well done! The duolingo I think is more about your being so competitive.”

”You are right in a way, but hey, I am actually teaching in Italian, now, so it can’t be all down to competitiveness! And anyway, I’m going to follow the advice of @James Cleer in #Atomic Habits – never miss twice.”

” Ok. Go to bed then – it’s late.”

Interesting that if I had committed to someone else to do something on a daily basis, I would have knuckled down and done it. Because I didn’t think anyone was reading my blog regularly, I thought it didn’t matter so much if I ‘only’ let myself down. And yet, a large part of me knows that self-respect, self-compassion and self-care are really pre-requisites for applying any of those to others on a consistent basis. And if I want anyone to treat me respect, compassion and care, the best way to achieve that is to model that behaviour for myself …and others.

Not many people really achieve this, I don’t think. Not many people achieve self forgiveness, or forgiveness of others. Not many have walked the Long Walk to Freedom. One person who did – though it was a very long and painful walk – 27 years, to be precise – was Nelson Mandela. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_Mandela

Here are some of his thoughts on learning from failure, and of what it means to truly forgive.

 

I think I will further explore this theme of forgiveness tomorrow. Meantime, if you would like to read my earlier blogs (other than Dec 6!), you can find them here.https://www.creativetransformation.org.uk/category/blog/

I would have been grateful for some daily inspiration in earlier Advents. Please can you help make up for my technical inadequacies by sharing this post in a way that the people who might also consider it helpful, will be able to find it! Thanks, and never mind the dark and the rain, tomorrow is another new beginning, another day to rise, to get back up again, even if you have fallen.

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Advent Reflections for Single Parents & Other Rare Species 4

December 4th

 

Difficult Days

At this time of advent, both highs and lows can feel more intense. Some intelligent person (I can’t remember who), said that we should expect at least one or two difficult days each week. With the plethora of self help news and views of social media these days, it may seem that we should miraculously be able to manifest all we truly desire every day, if we just follow their 4 simple steps. Well, I have news for you people – Life doesn’t work like that.

Some days are difficult days, whether you like it or not. Today has been one of those days for me. The weather here doesn’t help – endlessly grey skies spilling mid-winter tears so that it never really gets light…

But for me, today was supposed to be a good day. I was due to start a new creative process that I have been putting off for literally years. Instead, I got news that I couldn’t start it today, and what’s more, the person I was supposed to start it with has backed out, and I don’t know where I will find another one. And it was important for my future….

I wish I could say that I applied all the principles I teach to breathe into this situation, recalibrate and get to work anyway. 

Actually, I have sat crushed for most of the day, achieving almost nothing other than clearing my kitchen, and managing somehow to stick to my commitment to write this blog. And consoling myself with the fact that it’s only about midday on the west coast of America.

Actually, my real consolation has come from a few really good friends, who have either listened to my woes (and really listened, and not handed out unrequested advice), or just sent me texts letting me know they were thinking of me.

We all need support systems, and no more so than on difficult days and at difficult times. So today and in these next few weeks, reach out to your support systems when you need them, and ask yourself who might need your help, comfort and support at this time. Sometimes we get so involved in our busyness or our problems, that we fail to notice that others are struggling. Keep checking your peripheral vision…

Art with grateful thanks today from the amazing Jenny Reyneke, whose work can be found at https://reynekeart.wixsite.com/artist-portfolio/works-2016

 

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Advent Reflections for Single Parents & Other Rare Species 3

December 3rd

 

The Advent of the Festive Season is both a time for reflection, and often a time for old triggers to resurface, unwanted.

Yesterday I reflected that making decisions required intention, will and commitment. In the past, my habitual response to difficult circumstances, was to either grit my teeth and power through with grim determination, or to collapse. I have slowly been learning the power of gentleness. (And for those of you who know me well, I did mention the words slowly, and learning). My default position when I am frightened has definitely been ‘the best form of defence is attack’. And when I am triggered, it is still one of those unwanted reactions that I deal with sometimes better than others. 

Sometimes we find it easier to be gentle with others than ourselves. Today I would invite you to be gentle with yourself, as you keep your own candle lit and your flame alive in this time of darkness. And also that gentleness shares much with compassion

With thanks to my lovely friend Natacha Dauphin for the image and words from her books. Find her, and them at https://www.natachadauphin.com/

For over 6 years I have been leading a Monday morning meditation – until lockdown, in person, and thereafter, online. Here is a recording of an in-person meditation from Winter 2019 on the theme of Gentleness.

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Advent Reflections for Single Parents & Other Rare Species 2

December 2nd

 

To many, the advent of the festive season is synonymous with Advent Calendars. I grew up in a country which had sanctions, so Advent Calendars were never ‘a thing’. I have been in this country long enough to know about their rise in popularity, and am old enough to have seen the changes in their use.

I was contemplating the meaning of advent this morning when I came across this poem by @Brian Bilston. Brief shout out for Brian Bilston’s poetry for a daily lift. It is usually witty, rhyming and very funny. Today’s was more reflective.

 

Historically, Germans used different methods of marking the days leading up to Christmas. Brian’s poem already reflects mid 20th Century use – and the images of nativity had become images associated with a more westernised, commercial Christmas. But they were still images which invited a pause, and some sort of reflection.

When I searched Google for advent calendars, the entire first page was devoted to calendars, selling stuff, as illustrated above – from the humble Cadbury chocolate calendar at £2.70 to the Dior advent calendar – a mere snip at £570!!! Nowadays it is no longer enough to exchange presents on Christmas Eve, or Christmas morning, we are encouraged to give more and more costly gifts every single day of December!

What has this to do with the meaning of Advent??

If you think of an Advent calendar as a pause for reflection, gratitude and wonder, I invite you to bring that attitude to your days of advent. And if you are bombarded with Advent ‘gift’ calendars, I invite you to pause and ask yourself what non-commercial gift you would like to both give and receive each day. As with many simple things, this is not necessarily easy. It requires intention, will and commitment…and yields many benefits.

 

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Advent Reflections for Single Parents & Other Rare Species

December 1st

I have been a single mother for more years than I care to think about, so I am well accustomed to the feeling of dread which arises at the advent of the ‘festive’ season when people start asking me what I am doing for Christmas. Moreover, this year will be the first where I don’t see my daughter – she graduated last year and is off travelling the world.

A few weeks ago I went to visit my nephew and family at their new house, and I found this fun snowman advent calendar for his young daughters.

In the few days that he sat smiling at me before my trip, I rather fell in love with his cheerful face, and so when I discovered a fellow snowman on my next trip to the shop, I bought one for myself.

I was communing with him the other morning, and had an idea. This year I am going to make Advent a positive time. I am going to write a daily blog with something inspirational – mostly things I’ve collected from other people (thank you @Robyn Gordon). Occasionally I might add something personal, or one of my photos, and maybe even a meditation or two. 

I don’t want to put pressure on myself. But I do want you to know that if you find this time of year difficult, sad, lonely, don’t suffer alone, and there are ways to change your mind and perhaps allow yourself some joy.

Loss can feel more acute at this time of year, financial hardship more difficult. But research shows that we can find as much happiness in small, daily interactions, as with what people would term ‘real relationships. So this Advent, I encourage you to make as much as possible of what daily interactions you might have with others – and also to go out and make some! And if you have none, feel free to write to me on here, and I will do my best to respond.

Please feel free to share this with anyone who you think might be struggling at this time of year.

 

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2023

I have spent International Women’s Day languishing at home with flu. I say languishing, but being a woman living alone, languishing has also included stripping the bed, washing and drying the sheets, remaking the bed (a bugger to make alone, let me tell you!), organising and making food, and clearing up the mess of the last 2 days when I just didn’t have the energy. Let me say here, that some really good (women) friends have been kind enough to bring me supplies. And I know many men live alone, but really..

I have a very good (attractive) male friend with whom I had lost touch for many years. When someone connected us on Facebook some years ago, the first post I read was him lamenting having a cold. He had 34 messages of sympathy and offers of help – from women!!🙄

It struck me as I had time to ponder for a change, how many men pursue their chosen career single mindedly, in part because they have a woman who ensures the rest of life is taken care of: Shopping, cooking, cleaning, washing, bill paying, rubbish disposal, managing the social calendar, the holiday planning, dealing with sick children, being the family taxi, waiting in for electricians and plumbers and BT who never come…

The list goes on. For many women, who either live alone or with families, these are the jobs that they do in addition to their chosen career, and I say ‘All Hail to them!’ It’s time we truly valued the work that so many women do.

I recently read an article about a woman who was getting divorced. Her husband refused to share his goods and chattels with her, but the judge awarded her £205,000 for 25 years of unpaid housework, and she was thrilled. 25 years? £205,000??? OMG, as a friend said, she should have been awarded more like £750,000. It is a sad reflection of how society values what half its population does.

I have recently started volunteering with conversational English practice with refugees who are being accommodated in a local hotel (400). I am in awe of the women who have to walk their children to school and back an hour each way, because that is the only school that will take them. They appear carefully dressed and smiling and managing the younger children who haven’t yet been given school places, and they wrestle with a completely foreign language while supporting husbands whose self worth is eroded because of not having gainful employment and they suffer people treating them as stupid because they cannot speak the language, even though they are science graduates.

Anyway, I was also pondering all the amazing women who have helped me to be who I am and where I am. I absolutely could not have been either without their help, guidance, inspiration and practical help – in supporting my popcorn brain when I’m on fire with ideas, or dealing with my equally strongly negative feelings when I have been down and struggling.

So thank you to all of you:@Miranda Tufnell @deb Barnard @sophie Johnson @Ruth Harvey @Liz Acland @Janet Hornby @Caryn Douglas @Fiona Frame @Heidi Baseler @Jane Gulec @Catherine Duncan @Liz Haddon @Robyn Whittaker @Goergina Hamilton @Liz Barrington @Anna Parker

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9 LEADERSHIP LESSONS FROM SARINA WIEGMAN & THE HISTORIC LIONESS WEURO 2022 VICTORY

Let me acknowledge at the outset of this post, that I am interested in Leaders and Leadership, but have never followed women’s football. In fact, I only remembered that the Final was on around the start of extra time. Nevertheless, even watching for that short time was extremely moving, and got me thinking…

These are eight lessons that struck me are useful for leadership of all kinds, and particularly in business:

  1. LEADERSHIP LESSON 1: KNOW YOUR TEAM
    1. Maximise their strengths
    2. Minimise their weaknesses

    Sarina Wiegman clearly knew and had assessed the individuals in her team. 

  1. LEADERSHIP LESSON 2: COMMUNICATE EXPECTATIONS CLEARLY BEFORE ANY BATTLE COMMENCES
    1. Sarina Wiegman was asked what made this team so special. One of the things she highlighted was that there was some discussion early on about behaviour and it was not just words – they lived it.
    2. One of the management team interviewed after the game talked of how Wiegman had made her expectations clear to each player.
    3. She spoke to each individually and highlighted what the player was good at – and that was the role they were expected to fulfil. Everything was clear before the event, and there was so much energy saved because of that.https://talksport.com/football/1160231/sarina-wiegman-england-germany-womens-euro-2022-final/
  2. LEADERSHIP LESSON 3: LEAD BY EXAMPLE – THE LEADER CREATES THE CULTURE
    1. Much has been made of Wiegman’s calm demeanour – so different from some of the Men’s coaches. And the culture she created was one of respect. This spilled over into the culture of the fans. The Women’s Final was so markedly different from the Men’s games in providing a supportive, safe, family atmosphere.
  3. LEADERSHIP LESSON 4: DON’T PROCRASTINATE WHEN CHANGE IS NECESSARY
    1. Many commentators observed that one of the winning strategies was that Wiegman’s timing for bringing on Substitutes was almost impeccable – unlike some of her male counterparts who delayed too long and lost the advantage.https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/jul/31/sarina-wiegman-it-was-so-tight-but-who-cares-we-are-european-champions
  4. LEADERSHIP LESSON 5: SOMETIMES ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS NOT TO PLAY
    1. Following the final goal, the Lionesses did not try anything fancy – they merely headed for the corner and made it difficult for the Germans to access the ball. They waited until the frustration created an error – got the throw in – and repeated the process. That showed maturity and wisdom – something I think sometimes gets lost in male ego in big games I have watched.
  5. LEADERSHIP LESSON 6: JOY IS INFECTIOUS
    1. Look how long the England fans (and millions round the country) stayed to absorb the wonderful atmosphere of celebration in the stadium – and think of all the dopamine and oxytocin that was flowing through the country as a result. I wonder how many babies were conceived that night??!
  6. LEADERSHIP LESSON 7: PEOPLE ARE LONGING FOR ROLE MODELS. One only has to look at how people, especially the young, slavishly follow influencers on social media, to understand how desperate they are for someone to follow and to show the way. 
  7. LEADERSHIP LESSON 8: DON’T UNDERESTIMATE WHAT A GROUP OF INDIVIDUALS CAN DO WHEN YOU ENABLE THEM TO BOND AS A TEAM
  8. LEADERSHIP LESSON 8: A GREAT LEADER CAN CHANGE CULTURE, CAN CHANGE HISTORY.https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/jul/30/womens-football-and-society-has-changed-williamson-hails-euro-impact

 Sarina Wiegman is such a leader, and I look forward to experiencing those changeshttps://www.creativetransformation.org.uk/international/

SARAH WIEGMAN

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Celebrating Growth & Blossoming

An unusually early start to my day allowed time for reflection, and I wanted to share this journal entry from last summer. It reminds me of the ebb and flow of life, and how despair can turn to joy. I am so happy to be able to report that practising the strategies I refer to in this journal has allowed meaningful and helpful change in my way of thinking and being, which in turn has opened wonderful new connections, work opportunities and ways of dealing with conflict! I am reminded of a card I bought 10 years ago when I was finding my life particularly difficult:

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER GIVE UP!

MINDFULNESS COURSE JOURNAL SEPTEMBER 2018

What matters to me?
To connect to beauty, kindness and love. To be able to be meaningfully with myself and others without judgement and constant criticism. To know joy viscerally and find a community and sense of belonging, which is not possible without the above. To be able to fully support my daughter, Which is also not possible without the above. To have meaning and purpose. To help others. To nourish myself and others without depleting the world and its resources. To create. Art and words and something lasting. To leave an imprint on the world of something that brings joy and peace and meaning to others. To be able to handle conflict in such a way that allows me to be intimate with at least one other human being, and to be connected to many others. To allow myself to be fully myself and fully human so that I can allow others to be the same. To live from the heart and courage and not from fear.

What drew me to this work?

The knowledge that my inner critic is so powerful and keeps on destroying my ability to pause, to be present, to be kind and loving to myself and others. Understanding that I need a daily practice to help me change this long term.

Reflections

I see clearly how my own thoughts shape and determine my life. I see how, without anything changing externally, what I tell myself about myself or my life or my worth or my relationships with others sets the tone for my day, my week, my life.

I see clearly that when I judge and criticise, I effectively paralyse myself, I throw a black blanket over my inner light, I create a self fulfilling prophecy of misery and worthlessness. I become someone nobody wants to spend time with, least of all me, who is stuck with myself, and can only get away by numbing, avoiding, sleep, tv, games or smoking. And I see how this can become a perpetuating cycle.

I understand how difficult it is to press the pause button. After all, that is one of the basic tenets of Alexander Technique and I managed to avoid it entirely for all my three year training and beyond, and now I know about it, but spend huge quantities of time without actually pressing it. And I know and see clearly that the first step is awareness and the second step is to press pause, and without that step, my life continues to hurtle along the trajectory of habitual pattern that is seemingly locked into my system.

I also see and have practical experience of how using that pause button can allow real and practical change – can alter the trajectory of my direction and life.

And it has taken me all summer of internal wrestling and wrangling, despite the best efforts of friends to remind me that it is not the way, to arrive at this Sunday morning prepared to stop and pause. It has taken terror, and hopelessness and despair and frustration and listlessness and overwhelm for me to arrive at this place.

But I am here, and I am grateful. And I commit to coming back to this place each day to practise pausing and connecting……