Nourishment
‘Today, like every other day,
We wake up empty and frightened.
Don’t open the door to the study and begin reading
Take down the musical instrument –
Let the beauty you love be what you do.
There are hundred of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.’
RUMI
2012 is a pivotal time. Whatever we make of the many ideas that are circulating about this year, it is obvious that socially, environmentally, economically and politically, there is a gradual breaking down of old structures and certainties.
What’s this got to do with coaching and coaching supervision? Well, everything actually. We are profoundly affected by whatever is going on in the global culture – in the ‘field’, and as it is quite dramatically shifting now, we are living and working in environments that are in a process of considerable change – just as we are. Coaches work with change every day and with the values associated with change. In the wake of a big focus on the need for Resilience, we may need to look more closely at a central component of resilience, which is nourishment. Many years ago, I was talking avidly about some personal breakthroughs and a kind friend said: ‘And what will nourish these insights?’ I have never forgotten that observation. The implication that we need to be vigilant about self-support and ensure that we are nourished made an impact on me.
Re-listening to Rumi’s poem the other day (see YouTube), I was struck by its seduction – the lure of ‘letting down’ in the morning, instead of automatically beginning the day with our computers. Or the relief of imagining that there might actually be something more than me, a bigger mind if you will, that would invite ‘kneeling’ – a healthy surrender to something more than myself.
How we nourish and refresh ourselves, affects every relationship and conversation that we have. Being balanced and nourished, feeds our capacity to attend, to listen, to connect and to be authentic. It means too that we can respond fully to those clients who may be really struggling. If I can continually create the environment in which I can flourish, it is so much more likely that I can enable the client to create this for themselves.
As this year begins, I am looking at ways to nourish my life even more. And rather than ask you about your New Year Resolutions, I invite you to consider ‘the beauty you love’ – are you getting enough of it? Really – are you?
Edna Murdoch
