On this week's podcast which, if you missed it, you can hear here I talked about hacks for gaining space, clarity, and rest in everyday life.
I mention that I went to a dark sky park this past weekend with my family and how incredibly soothing and calming it was to look up at the sky without light pollution, to breathe fresh air, and to be present with people I love, while watching God's creation above me.
What I didn't mention was that I went on a date with my husband to our local science center and saw the Pixar exhibit where they showed the science behind how their movies are made.
I. Loved. It.
I learned so much about lighting, and rendering, and sculpting, and modeling of characters and how much detail goes into each still shot
for the story to layout before it all comes together into the movie that we see in theatres.
It takes thousands of computers and so many people working in their zones of genius to make things like Toy Story, Monsters, Inc., and Inside Out come to life, but the really cool thing is that when these people go to work on these movies, they have fun.
There's space to create. One middle-aged executive was shown riding a scooter in the middle of the business complex, and another was using the gym.
Pixar knows that to create at a high level of excellence that you need space to play and space for things to work. Its a way to work smarter, not harder.
You and I can do that, too, by taking time to rest, to play, and to enjoy life.
I mention that I went to a dark sky park this past weekend with my family and how incredibly soothing and calming it was to look up at the sky without light pollution, to breathe fresh air, and to be present with people I love, while watching God's creation above me.
What I didn't mention was that I went on a date with my husband to our local science center and saw the Pixar exhibit where they showed the science behind how their movies are made.
I. Loved. It.
I learned so much about lighting, and rendering, and sculpting, and modeling of characters and how much detail goes into each still shot
for the story to layout before it all comes together into the movie that we see in theatres.
It takes thousands of computers and so many people working in their zones of genius to make things like Toy Story, Monsters, Inc., and Inside Out come to life, but the really cool thing is that when these people go to work on these movies, they have fun.
There's space to create. One middle-aged executive was shown riding a scooter in the middle of the business complex, and another was using the gym.
Pixar knows that to create at a high level of excellence that you need space to play and space for things to work. Its a way to work smarter, not harder.
You and I can do that, too, by taking time to rest, to play, and to enjoy life.
Do you want to hear more on this topic? Take a listen to this week's podcast episode by clicking here.
Why a Mentor, Coach, or Therapist Can Help
Have you ever felt like the way you think of things seems right until other information comes along and gives you more clarity...shedding some light on the situation?
So, I had this experience recently. I was feeling pretty confident when I decided to run out for breakfast at McDonald's. I thought I'd just get a breakfast sandwich for myself and bring one back to be sweet to my husband on a recent Saturday. So, I did that, and I thought, oh, I can also go to the gym. I don't have anything planned. So, I'll get breakfast, drop one off for him, go to the gym and, oh, I didn't have my earbuds. So, I'll swap off the sandwich and then pick up my earbuds.
When I pulled into my car driveway, and we live in a very safe area, so I decided just to leave my drink in the cup holder, my phone on the dash, and leave the car unlocked because I was running quickly in and out and I would be right back.
The problem is, when I did that and started to head off towards the gym, my phone was gone, and my drink was gone, and I'm sitting there in the car going, what just happened? And so there were thoughts like, did someone steal from me? Are one of my kids playing a joke? Did I accidentally take it inside? Am I losing my mind? And I thought, well, I must have been just not paying attention that I took them inside. And so I'll just go inside and get it. And I went inside to look and there was no phone and there was no drink. And I had a distinct memory of leaving the phone on the dashboard and the drink in the cup holder. So at this point, it's like a Twilight zone kind of thing. It's feeling very surreal.
I'm not sure what's going on. Things are kind of topsy turvy within me because my logic is trying to figure something out. My emotional experience is feeling kind of discombobulated, and my husband didn't see my things either. However, even though I was confident that I had time to drive home, that I had time to swap out the sandwich and get the earbuds, that I had time and was turning around quickly so I could get back to the car so that I could have my stuff left in it and not have to carry it in with me, there was this piece of information that I was missing.
I had failed to consider that since my husband and I have the exact same make and model of cars, just different colors, that I had actually gotten into his car instead of mine. And the only way that I knew that is because he was trying to help me problem solve. And instead of being kind of flustered like I was, he was very calm and said my Bluetooth went off, and he said that I think that you tried to get into my car instead. Do you think that's what happened? Oh, actually, that makes a whole lot of sense.
I thought I was seeing everything clearly. I thought I calculated everything, thought I understood everything. And then I didn't understand why things weren't working, what got mixed up, and I couldn't understand not only why and what, but how. Like what happened? And with that one sentence, he was able to make so much sense of everything for me, just shining a light of clarity on my situation that I couldn't see for myself. And once he did, it sped up my progress. It got me into the car with my earbuds, going to the gym, had a nice workout, it was great. I was back on track. Better than ever, right?
That's what having a therapist or a coach or a mentor can do for you. They can see the things you can't because you're in the experience. Somebody who is trained from the outside to be able to hear and notice and ask intuitive questions, then explain things or offer tools that you may not know can speed up your clarity and your progress, saving you a lot of time, frustration, and that Twilight Zone kind of swirling.
