Windswept and interesting
That is the title of one of Billy Connolly’s books – his latest I think. He describes how someone commented on him being Windswept and Interesting, how he valued that (almost as much as ‘Wild, Romany lover’ – Imagine getting that as feedback!!) and how he has lived on that basis ever since. Note the difference between that and ‘consultant’ or ‘project manager’ or ‘Senior Manager’ and even ‘Coach’. I know whose company I would prefer …
There is a tendency in my experience to conform; to use words of the past, to use traditional descriptions – grey words. I remember experiencing a Feldenkrais* one on one session and the person using very unusual language to describe my movements. I commented on it and she said “If you want new ways of doing things it is key to use new ways to describe it”. That impressed me. I have not forgotten what she said nor how she was with me.
And that is the point. Many of us hang onto the past. I still have a coat that belonged to my Mother and she died in 2004! Yet when I cycle I can travel with only what I carry in my paniers. It is such a feeling of freedom. Is it time to let go of old attachments, old patterns and write a new story for yourself, enrich your current story or blow off the dust of an older story whose pages you have not visited for a while?
One of the questions that my dear friend and teacher Frank Farrelly (master of Provocative Therapy) often asked was “How many good years do you think you have left? Invariably he challenged the answer not to round it up but to round it down. After all this was all about being Provocative. I think that these last two years and the closeness to death has confronted many people with that question. “How long have you got and what are you doing with the time that you might have?” Many have changed direction in their lives by force or choice.
I am currently in quarantine having arrived in India a few days ago and I find that the constraints of not being able to move outside of my immediate environment have triggered so many ideas about who I am and what I want to be doing and how I communicate that to the world. I would love to be considered windswept and interesting, however that belongs to Billy Connolly. My grandson calls me Funky Grandma. I love that and there is more to who I am.
Maybe it is time for you to discover your unique exotic sense of self and your way of being that in the world. It is the recipe for living life to the full no matter what your age. Numbers need not define us. Our sense of self does …
We (Ramesh Prasad and I) are running a 3 day online programme from here in India (where better to tap into exotic) .. If you want to travel with us to tap into the deepest truth of who we are and how we live that in the world and make every moment of life drip with vigour and love then join us …
Sue Knight
(and if you know of any wild Romany lovers!!! …… )
*The Feldenkrais Method® of somatic education is a powerful and revolutionary approach to improving your life that uses gentle, mindful movement to bring new awareness and possibility into every aspect of your life. Developed by Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais
And details of our other programmes including an in person Intensive in India https://sueknight.com/course-list/
In case you didn’t know already, there is now a version of NLP AT WORK 4th edition in audio form and I am narrating it. You can get this from Audible by clicking here. And for those outside of the UK on Kobo, Google Play and Apple.