Turn, Turn, Turn

I had to take out my gloves today. The air has gotten crisp. The tree in Straus Park that I watch from my giant living room window has thinned out. The kids’ teachers have learned enough about them already to hold a parent conference. Yes, we’re in to Fall.

When I had my coaching practice in Northern California, I had several clients who lamented that they did not experience the changing of seasons: Some missed this experience so much, they considered changing jobs and moving across the country to once again undergo these physical reminders of time’s passing.

The changing of the seasons lets us mark time. Marking the time is another way of being present, of noticing what is happening to us and around us. And it’s a reminder that time is precious and fleeting: To show gratitude for what we have, and to realize that our unhappy moments are moments in a bigger context.

This post celebrates the seasons, and suggests a coaching exercise you can try, whether you are undergoing them or not.

No matter your location, Happy Fall!

~ Sophie

COACHING EXERCISE

If you are experiencing a physical change of seasons, then your exercise is simply to notice: To walk around and feel the air in and outside your body, to be alert for new colors in your path, to bring a fallen leaf inside. Notice how the new season is making you feel (physically or emotionally) and decide if that’s how you want to be feeling.

If you do not experience a physical change of seasons, create a more mental one. Consider the markers that do distinguish Fall from Winter or Summer - the school year is often a helpful one. Think about how you will periodically stop to notice the passage of time; to assess what’s happening for you at key intervals. Create or celebrate a ritual to mark this new season as separate from the last.  

QUOTES I LIKE RIGHT NOW

“Spring passes and one remembers one's innocence. Summer passes and one remembers one's exuberance. Autumn passes and one remembers one's reverence. Winter passes and one remembers one's perseverance.” ~ Yoko Ono

“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.” ~ Anne Bradstreet

 “And you would accept the seasons of your heart just as you have always accepted that seasons pass over your fields and you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief.” ~ Kahlil Gibran

“To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring.” ~ George Santayana

Make every day a day to learn

This post is again inspired by my wise colleague, Maureen, who said to me today something to the effect of, "You know, there's so much you can learn in passing every day if you are open to what you want to learn." 


There are so many things I love about this sentiment! It's about being present in the moment to realize you are in a situation ripe for learning, and being self-aware of what you want to focus on. It's about rising above your circumstances and focusing on what you can do with what you have (e.g. I may not be able to get to a class on how to be a better leader, but I can become more aware of the leaders around me - good and bad - and I can learn just from watching them). And, of course, it promotes my favorite topic - lifelong learning. It also inspired the coaching exercise for this post (see below).


I learn so much from all of you - the people who read this blog, who write to me about the exercises you're trying and the successes (and failures) you're having, and who share such wise observations about life with me on a daily basis. Thank you for making every day a day to learn for me.
~ Sophie


Coaching exercise


Here are some ways I think we can take Maureen's statement and turn it into an experiment in making every day a day to learn...

• Spend some time to figure out what it is you really want to learn, whether it be in your personal or work life. What skills or characteristics do you wish you displayed more often? What do you want to learn how to do that you don't know how to do? This can be a very tangible thing, like playing the guitar, or a more intangible one, like being more curious about other people. I give that later example because that is something I decided a few years ago I wanted to learn to do better.
• Think about who you know who is very good at what you want to learn. How can you increase your time with this person? To continue on my real-life example above, I realized that our "Aunt" Janice was amazing at displaying curiosity about people, and I decided I would spend more time with her just watching her shining her special light on people, hoping some of what she does would rub off on me. 
• Alternatively, where is the activity you want to learn happening? If the tangible skill I want to learn is nursing skills, I might head to the hospital to hang out or volunteer. Even better is when I come to realize that the thing I want to learn is already happening around me and all I need to do is be open to it.   
• Don't forget to process what you are learning. You'll remain receptive to these inputs when you are holding yourself accountable for noticing and processing them. So, journal about your learnings. Share what you're learning with a friend. As always, I'd love to hear how you're making yourself open to learning in your every day.  

Quotes I like right now

• "Live as if you will die tomorrow; Learn as if you will live forever." ~ Gandhi
• “The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.” ~ John PowellI, American composer
• “I never teach my pupils; I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.”    ~ Albert Einstein
• “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands, but in seeing with new eyes.” ~ Marcel Proust, French novelist