This month I’ve included an audio version of the newsletter you can listen to it here
Freedom Practice
To me the tree outside my window represents freedom.
It sways in the breeze with such ease, yet its trunk remains still.
It’s stoic and dynamic, flowing, and steadfast all at one.
Each day the color of its leaves changes ever so slightly.
Today they are yellow tinged with red.
Soon they’ll be blood red and then brown
One day these leaves will fall down to the sidewalk and disintegrate
Yet this does not stop the tree from growing and exuding sheer life
To me this tree evokes freedom.
It grows with the seasons.
It knows when to go within and follow the constraints of winter,
And when to burst forth in buds with spring.
It calibrates accordingly to each moment,
It does not hesitate.
It does not become agitated by life’s extremes.
It keeps living and expressing its fullness no matter what cycle of life it is in.
A few weeks ago, I heard someone describe freedom in a way that stood out to me. Since then I’ve been noticing the word everywhere and relating to it in a new way.
They described freedom as the balance between unbounded possibility and constraint, without feeling agitated by either extreme. I understood this as just the right amount of tension to allow for play and movement, while still offering structure and support. Like the tree outside my window stays rooted and moves with the breeze, freedom is engaging with tension in a way that supports life.
In this tension, you become like an artist or a musician, you can work the balance of constraint and possibility to make something beautiful. You become the designer of your reality. In this way, freedom becomes something to be exercised, rather than given to you by an external force.
I’d never thought that constraint played a role in freedom, I hadn’t thought of freedom as including tension. Today I see that freedom is a dynamic tension, a generative force to fine-tune and calibrate.
And maybe the calibration itself is a form of agency. Maybe it’s a step toward freedom. *
A concept I’m thinking about:
Attitudinal Infrastructure
I heard this term for the first time in reading Dr. Charlotte Von Bülow’s* dissertation, The Practice of Attention in the Workplace.
For me, this speaks to an idea of cultivating our attitude to create an infrastructure through which we can engage.
What if our attitude could offer supportive scaffolding for everything else we did?What kind of infrastructure would you want to create?
And what kind of attitude would support this?
**Thank you to a new mentor in my life, Dr. Charlotte Von Bülow, to read her dissertation go here
A question I’m pondering:
How do you hold a conversation with existence?
What I’m reading:
Inner Knowing - Consciousness, Creativity, Insight, Intuition
By Helen Palmer
This book explores the top holds a series of essays and pieces from many authors and thinkers including, CG. Jung, Charles Tart, Jean Shinoda Bolen, Joseph Goldstein, Pema Chodron, Kabir Helminski, and others. It covers topics such as synchronicity and the different forms of intuition.
I bought the book mostly for its title, yet have found the pieces on intuition to be very interesting.
What I’m watching:
In Residence Ep 15: “Ricardo Bofill” by Albert Moya:
In this video architecture renegade Ricardo Bofill invites us into the 5,000-square ft former cement factory outside Barcelona that he calls home.
I love that he transformed a factory into a beautiful home and how the different rooms relate to various moods and emotions.
Pattern Literacy -Supervision that Builds the Capacity for Deeper Awareness
November, 19th, 2:00-4:00 pm PST
In this 2 hour class, we will look at different cases through a process-oriented lens to discover the patterns within them.
From a process-oriented perspective, every case holds an innate pattern. Individual’s processes are holographic: even the smallest piece of information is a fractal that holds insights about the larger arch of their experience.
Learn more here.
November 19th, 5:00-7:15 pm PST
In our upcoming class, Randal Garcia and I are looking forward to sharing what we’ve learned about applying a mythic lens to branding.
I’ve resisted branding for years. Through collaborating with Randal I’ve learned how it can be a channel to connect with our deeper voice and bring more of ourselves forward into the world.
What you can expect:
Experiential exercises
Brand guidelines incorporating the mythic perspective
Techniques to enhance your brand signal through media platforms
Learn more here
Friday, December, 10th, 4:00-6:00 pm PDT
In this 2-hour session, we’ll explore ways of shifting and gaining perspective, when we feel stuck, shut down, or when the world around us is uncertain. And, even when things are going well gaining perspective can spark clarity and valuables insights.
This workshop will be highly experiential. We’ll explore time, space and drawing as doorways, to gain perspective, connect with our creativity, and find new pathways forward.
In this session you can expect:
Inner reflection activities
Experiential exercises
A few practices you can bring to work with therapy/coaching clients
A few practical frameworks
Learn more here
*thank you to Jacqueline Faye Hobbs for her thoughts on Freedom.
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