Unleash The Glorious

It's turned into a bit of a joke in our household, and Roddy said it again from the IMC stage last week "most of my best thinking is done by my wife".

Ha! It's not true. Roddy is sharp as a tack, I fear he doesn't need me one bit... but I will say this: two minds are indeed better than one (Ecc 4:9)

Take this weeks Speaking360º video... Roddy and I share a common interest - probably beyond speaking as a skill, but more how it all goes together - the psychology and physiology around communication. The way our thought patterns and habits affect our progress. The different mediums we use to communicate, and what makes them so effective. It's fascinating! 

Our favorite escape is jumping into the car, getting a Starbucks to go and just chatting about what we are learning, what we are listening to, thoughts and ideas that ignite something in us.

So after the IMC, we were talking about Jamie Kern Lima. I mean, give it up for JKL - if you were there, you get it (🐿 IYKYK!!!!). What a story! And what an authentic woman... one of those people you immediately feel like you could be besties with...

Roddy and I were sitting on the sofa, back-and-forthing about her story and I said something along the lines of "I think I would have given up after the first no" (that woman is as tenacious as a dog with a smelly sock in it's mouth) and Roddy says that maybe it's because her 'why' was so much bigger than the product she created. It wasn't really the makeup and what it could do for women's skin, it was a bigger idea about making all women feel valued and beautiful. Even that middle-aged housewife in Nevada she pictured watching QVC from her living room.

Then we started talking about persistence in general, and about our experience raising Eliza - and again, if the why is big enough maybe we CAN pull on reserves we thought weren't possible? Roddy had this excitable EUREKA moment when we collectively came to this thought... YES!!!! That's it! The persistence comes from a deeper place... the resilience is built from a much, much bigger why.

And that's what he ran with with this weeks video. It's a great lesson. And a great lesson for us, to continue to confabulate :) 

It made me think of the now thousands of people that Roddy has worked with and the perpetual anxiety around finding your story. Where to start? What to collect? What makes the cut? What should I work on first? And it made me realize that this really is a collective work.

Heck, this blog is only being written because this process fired up some other thought in me too! 

Your story isn't found in a vacuum. Your story is found in the telling of it. In the sharing of it. While it's rusty and unpolished... and kind of rubbish, honestly. 

There's this communal spark ✨ that happens when we share ideas and thoughts. I have books full of ideas for blogs, and almost all of them have been sparked by either an in-person conversation or a social media post. You see or hear something, and it stirs something in you... something you can build on and build with. It's not that I do Roddy's best thinking, it's that we think best when we think together.

I was talking about this with my friend Dr Deena in Orlando, that often our story has to be coaxed out of us... very gently. And the best people to that are the people you enjoy sharing with - your spouse, your closest friends, a dear confidante. Saying the words out loud give the story legs, substance... something to work with.

Do you ever feel fit to burst with all the thoughts in your head, but the idea of putting them out there in any form is almost too much?

I get this ALL THE TIME. Like, I have real anxiety just typing that out.

Maybe it's that we know once it's out there (as I type this all I can hear in my head is Harry Burns from When Harry Met Sally "call the cops, it's already out there!")  

via GIPHY

(sorry, I digressed but that white man's overbite gets me every time 😂)

Maybe it's that we know once it's out there, that's it - we aren't messing about anymore. And that's kinda scary. All that potential... out there... turning it into 'stuff'... that real people will see and judge. Marianne Williamson said "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us." Maybe the truth is we are scared of unleashing the glorious. 

Find a person, and endeavor to share with them, bounce ideas around... you want to swill them around your mouth - maybe you'll spit some out... some will be worthy of drinking... maybe you'll take another glass... that's where the best thinking will happen.

This isn't some guru or far-off person, this isn't a thinking partner that has no vested interest in you - this is a relaxed, comfortable conversation and a meeting of minds to enhance the thoughts you produce.

Then use the tools you have to start putting them out in the world (video reviews anyone?) - but seriously, a Facebook live isn't going to lead to certain death... this blog post is not the be all and end all of my writing pursuits... keep eking out your wonderful ideas, your wonderful take on the world.... keep unleashing your glorious.

🌸💜🌸💜🌸💜🌸💜🌸

PS. You would think that as we share so much wonderful thinking, I would have been invited into this sneaky little selfie Roddy took with JKL, wouldn't ya? Still annoyed about that hahaha