One of those lessons that gets put in front of me a lot that I think I am (kind of, sort of) learning: create space between a situation and my response to it. Like when someone drops the ball and doesn’t show up as I wanted them to and I want to fire off an email and copy my boss. But then I don’t. I go for a walk. I talk it out with a trusted ear. When I do respond I’m calm and ready for a conversation, not a shame fest.
In a different realm, Brené Brown talked about this same idea yesterday. She quoted Viktor Frankl: Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom.
Her post and podcast are worth the time where she talks about taking a summer sabbatical and creating space for not only her, but for her whole company over the next few months.
At work we often talk about creating capacity, but what I really mean these days is creating space to think, creating space for clarity. We just started a company-wide no (internal) meeting Tuesday that we’re rolling into.
I think I need to find more of that in my life . . . more quiet, more breaks in my workday (like going for a run in the middle of the day where I come back with a clear head to tackle my work), more meditation that lasts longer than a minute or two (my daily breathing exercise is good, but I haven’t been doing longer meditations and I need to). More time where I’m not on my phone or listening to something, more time for my creativity again. To be creative, I need to create space for my brain to be bored and stumble across ideas and work through narratives.
Brené Brown also quoted Michaela Coel, who said:
Do not be afraid to disappear, from it, from us, for a while and see what comes to you in the silence.
With Love,
Natalie