Today’s Sunday Summer Stretch Series episode is all about showing up.
Yesterday Becca and I went on location to the site of our Tapping Into Your Wellpower retreat to film this week’s episode. Ironically we recorded twenty minutes of video that mysteriously did not show up in my iMovie library when I came home to edit, forcing me to use the only five minutes that did show up.
What I’m noticing as I produce the Sunday Summer Stretch Series is that the right (and often exasperating) experiences show up at the exact right time to illustrate the point I am suggesting you pay attention to.
Clearly, it’s a case of physician, heal thyself.
For example, last week we talked about structure. On the 4th of July – a day that had the potential to throw a lot of people’s structure out the window – I found myself feverishly outlining Sunday Summer Stretch Series topics through September and creating a structure for each episode.
Some might say that should have happened before I even started, but let me assure you, if it would have, you would not have seen Episode 1 until next summer.
Sometimes, I just have to “Leap,” as Les Brown says, “and grow wings on the way down.”
Showing up in Boston in the middle of a blizzard in March to attend Ignite Your Power was such a leap. At that event I invested in a year long coaching program that has transformed the way I show up for my life and the people in it.
It wasn’t that I hadn’t had coaching or heard similar stuff before. Like you, I’ve consumed copious amount of content either out of curiosity or fear of missing out.
However, I seldom contributed to these conversations or left comments, even when the information totally rocked my world or changed the way I looked at something. I figured someone else would surely comment and the author wasn’t interested in my opinion.
Until I started creating my own content. Now I realize feedback and comments are the lifeline of a thriving community.
Writing can be a very solitary pursuit. Or it can be a call and response feedback loop where I put out the call and you respond or you toss out a question or a comment and I respond.
Showing up changes everything.
You can stay in your head where it’s safe, you’re surrounded by intelligent life forms, and your eccentricities are considered charming.
Or you can risk being seen.
You can risk being exposed for being human, being a bit unorganized, messy, or otherwise imperfect. You can be accused of anything from fashion faux-pax to intentional ignorance of the laws of defensive driving or good grammar.
I used to lament that my superpower was invisibility. Now I’m determined to turn that around and I am committed to showing up and being visible – imperfections and all.
As Barbara She said, “Isolation is the dream killer.”
I used to pride myself on being fiercely independent. Now I know the real honor is to be a part of a community. If you are reading this, please know I am thrilled to have you as part of mine. Many of you have been quietly reading for years, never letting out a peep.
Today I’m going to nudge you to just check in and say “I’m here” in the comments below. Or simply like this or share it with someone who might benefit from reading this. Because showing up – even in small ways – matters immensely and I’d love to let you know.
Here the link to today’s episode on Showing Up in the Sunday Summer Stretch Series.
Midlife MacGyver 