To Begin Again

More and more, the meaning of life seems to be about touching souls, not producing anything. I accomplished a lot this year -- wrote and published a book, completed the global CTI Leadership Program in Spain. But the standout moments are the serendipitous ones. The magic ones. Where someone literally walked into my life and asked: "Will you help me?" The resounding answer is Yes.

I'm not saying this to toot my own horn. In fact, that's why I hesitate to even write about it, but when Robert -- a military veteran, who's struggled with homelessness, metal health and addiction -- walked into my life and asked me to help him set up a Gyrotonic tower that had been in storage at the local YMCA. I said Yes. Of course. Fast-forward some 35 pro-bono private sessions later, Robert is on his way to become a teacher trainer. (He still needs some help getting to the training in Seattle, so here’s his GoFundMe.)

Why? Because the Gyrotonic method and Co-Active coaching have helped Robert find peace in the frenzy and fear that has been his life. This work has helped him regulate his nervous system. Now he is on fire, inspired to become a teacher and offer this to other veterans as a powerful path to healing. Not a day goes by that he doesn't thank me. I'd be lying if I told you that that gratitude doesn't matter. But what matters most is that my one-on-one sessions with him have inspired him to bring this to the world.

Robert is not becoming a new person. He is reclaiming the person he was born to be. Not despite his trauma, but because of it. Robert has also been an EMT. He has saved children from burning buildings. Now, he has discovered a new calling, a new way to save lives. This is possible because at least one person believes in him.

And by believing in him, I believe in myself. My true essence. My Why. When the Yes is easy, it's because the Why is clear. It's about life purpose: I am here to touch souls with the magic of compassionate listening and fearless inquiry so you can fully realize the magnificent person you already are.

When I think about my life purpose, saying Yes to certain requests becomes easy.

I am here to touch souls with the magic of compassionate listening and fearless inquiry so you can fully realize the magnificent person you already are.

This is not about "brand".

You are a fluid, flexible organism -- body and spirit.

You are more than a logo. More than your tattoos. You are liquid, gas. Soft tissue.

All new skin every few weeks. You are dust.

You are continuum from bone to blood to skin. From the inside out.

We spend a lifetime trying to define what is fluid. To ground what is in flight. To name what is fleeting. Why?

Because this being alive, being on the planet is as much about experience as it is about telling the story of it.

Robert is beginning again. Each day, with many challenges -- including the most basic like making sure he has food on his shelves. But each day he finds a reason. A meaning. Every week he gets himself to my studio, his eyes alight with the awe of how his body can adapt and heal.

We are meaning-makers, storytellers. We seek more than existence, more than survival. We seek purpose. We are seeking Why. We are investigative. We are experimenters. Explorers. Scientists. Seekers. We want to know the shape of our experience. The beginning, middle and end of it. Why? Because it makes us aware of being alive. And this awareness is where we feel grace, awe, gratitude, love. This is the human experience. I am here to create birthing spaces for your stories.

The Call to Return: Beginning Your Hero’s Journey

Every year is a new opportunity to begin the story. That’s what New Years celebrations, the very calendar, seem to be about. Mostly people make promises to themselves to do better, do more, reclaim themselves (mostly physically); to compare to last year and the year before. January is about beginning.

Wherever you are in life, you have already been on your hero’s journey. Your life has undoubtedly already been full of trials, losses, triumphs, hopes, celebrations. But what’s the shape of it? What is the beginning you choose now as you shape and celebrate the story of you?

Once upon a time…beginnings matter. They shape the rest of the story. What is the story of you that you can grow from? How do you want that story to begin? What is your “once upon a time”?

What is the “once upon a time” for the story of you? January is that calendar beginning. Name, reclaim the first chapter of your life. Set the tone for the rest of your year. Discover what it means to be the author of your life, rather than a character in someone else’s story.

What does it mean in this moment, to begin again?