On Creating the Conditions for Growth

Meet Plant. My beautiful friend Yesim gave me Plant for my birthday at the end of March. Or rather she gave me a lovely pot, covered in moss, and told me that she had planted a bulb. She spoke of Plant’s potential but was hesitant to show me a picture of what plant should look like, in case it spoiled the experience for me. But I really wanted to see the packaging so I could have an image of what it is I have been ask to steward into care. Yesim obliged and showed me the picture of a full blooming Ismene Hymenocallis (Festalis). I was so excited about what was to come even though I had never even seen one of these before. The gift was intriguing.

I was in between homes for a little while, so for a few weeks Plant lived in my car as I moved from place to place. I was nervous I would damage Plant, but Plant had not sprouted yet and so seemed OK with all the transition. When I moved into my new home one of the first things I did was find a place for Plant, right by the back door, in shelter and in light, as per instructions.

Then nothing. Then nothing. Then nothing. I visited Plant regularly, checking to see any signs of life. Still nothing. I wondered if something was wrong. Had I killed Plant? Had I thwarted things by moving around so much? I kept waiting and wondering. A few weeks in, I went away for a weekend, and then boom, when I returned Plant had sprouted.  Not only that but was now about 1cm above the soil level. Plant was growing!! Since then I have been watching and checking on Plant, making sure it has the right conditions for growth. I don’t have to do much. Just keep checking the conditions.

One morning this week, after visiting Plant, I also had an aha moment- Plant is offering a metaphor for the work it takes to create the right conditions for growth, and also giving me a new way into understanding the work I do in the world. My whole body came alive with this realisation- which always tells me I am onto something.

‘Create the conditions for growth’. This is what I was learning.

I was in the shower at the time of the aha (often when the best ideas come!), so I hopped out, grabbed a towel, and raced to my journal to capture the ideas and insights. I find if I don’t do it immediately, the ideas move on and are harder to find again. I scribbled down a list of the conditions for growth which Plant was helping me to see and how it relates to leadership, creativity and wayfinding in our lives. These conditions are generative, in that they are life-giving and life affirming, and they can apply at an individual, organisational or systemic level. The conditions are foundational, working below the surface (inner life and values), and also with the invisible elements which are is not seen (field intelligence and spirit), but are also very practical and grounded.

More and more I am appreciating the time it takes to grow things. What we seed now may take a long time to come to the surface, but keeping open to the conditions of growth is the key. One, two, three years on, I get emails from clients saying change they made back then is reaping the rewards now- financially, emotionally, physically, mentally, spiritually. I see this in my own life too. Seeds which I planted years ago are starting to come to life now. Others, it may take a while yet. The thing is- to keep planting. Not everything will flourish, but some things will. This insight and feedback in turns gives me a greater appreciation of the role of time and tending to the unseen, and helps me to actively nurture my own growth cycles.

This work of change and learning is not about quick fixes or easy answers. It’s not about growth hacking, or unnatural (and unsustainable) scaling. It is not about diets or denial. Instead it is about creating the ground from which we can evolve the eco-system into which our lives (as individuals, organisations and collectives) can thrive.

So, here goes: On creating the conditions of growth- a creative practice for you.

Think about what it takes to steward into life what it is that is seeking to grow. You can choose something from your personal or professional life.

Draw a picture of a plant, including a pot. Beside each element of the plant, take some time to journal responses to the questions.

The Container

The pot is essential. The pot is boundary or landscape or structure into which we plant our seeds- our ideas, our visions- the thing we want to grow. A beautiful pot helps, but is not essential- it is the boundary which is important. In our lives or projects a boundary can be agreements around what is involved in the project and what is not, who is involved at the current stage, and who is not. It can be a set of collaboration agreements between people involved, or a series of commitments to the project which will help protect and nurture it at the early stage of growth. By creating a container, or parameters, we get to set the stage for the growth.

What is the form of the container for your own ideas? What does the boundary look like? And how can that boundary be protected?

The Image= The Vision

That picture of Plant- or a similar Plant- was so important to the stewarding. Let’s equate this it the vision for the project, or our lives. Without out a picture of what it is we are seeking to create we have less investment with a pot which we have been told has life in it. Our vision helps to carry us through the dormant times, the rest time, the time where all this new life is germinating but we can not see it yet. The vision is our orientation to the future full potential. When Yesim offered me the image of the Plant, I was activated and excited. I gained an understanding of what it is I am stewarding and am appreciation of the time it will take for Plant to grow. The vision is the vehicle through which commitment and energy can flow.

How can you cultivate your own vision? How can you paint a picture of what it is you want to create? How can you share this vision with others who you want to engage in the stewarding process?

The Time 

Growth takes time, and not all time is equal. There is a long period of time in the dark when can doubt if things are actually moving. Then there are growth spurts. Then there are plateaus. We can accelerate growth by providing the right conditions and feeding what it is we want to bring to life, but deep change takes time, and patience, and often a lot of fumbling around in the dark.

How can you honour this cyclical and wave like nature of time? Are you giving yourself enough time? Or too much time? What still needs time under the surface? What is ready to bloom?

The Joy

I am so excited about watching Plant grow. Each day more and more so. I realise that it is not just about the end product that I am excited about, but seeing each stage of the growth cycle. The process is the joy. So often we get fixated about the end result, but in fact joy is available all through the process. If there is no joy in what it is you want to create, if it does not bring you alive, then something it off and it is time to change track. Joy is a signpost to your way.

How does your body respond when you speak about the thing it is you are doing. Does your body feel contracted, tight or constrained? Or does your body open up, feel lighter, and more energised? Your body will help to tell you if you are on the right path. Listen for the openings.

The Soil

The soil is the nourishment. It is separate to what is seeding it, but it is offering substrate into which Plant’s roots can grow and through these roots that it is drawing in life force. Maybe the nourishment is poetry, or deep enriching conversations, or actively seeking inspiration from others. Maybe it is taking time out, or reflection, or having a party.

What is the soil of our lives, or projects, our organisations? What is it that nourishes them, inspires their growth and feeds them?

The Roots

Below the surface, the roots of the plant are making their way deeper into the substrate, for stability and growth. These are like our value system. We don’t see them, but our values are like channels through which the life force can flow. When we are clear on our values we are clearer about the types of things we want to say ‘yes’ to , and the type of things we need to say ‘no’ to. (I have previously written a lot about values, and have developed another exercise to help you identify yours. You can view that here.

What are your core values? How do you think they shape how you show up in the world? How can you created a sense of shared values is your team, organisation or family?

The Space/ Place

Place is a powerful factor in supporting growth- what we surround ourselves with and who we surround ourselves with. The right physical space inspire us to take action.  Think of the difference in a light filled- airy office, and a dark room with stale air.  Space in nature, or co-working space, or a large blank page all have a role in play. Change the space and we can change our thinking. Orientate ourselves to the light and we change the way we grow. Light and space are the unseen factors which are often so overlooked.

Do we have enough physical space to grow? How is the place you are in informing what you are creating? Are you surrounding yourself with inspiration and beauty? How can you be oriented to the light? What does the ‘light’ represent to you’?

Field Intelligence/ Life intelligence

There is an intelligence to life which demands our trust. That life seeks life. That change is constant. That there is an animating life force which is universal. You can take both a scientific approach or a spiritual one, or both. Life, and growth, has an intelligence beyond our control. When we trust, and let go of some of our control, we can align with this larger field of intelligence. Then you start to notice: synchronicities, being in the right place at the right time, the right conversations happening naturally or that very thing you were searching for being under your nose all along- you just had not noticed before.

How can you honour this wider field of intelligence? 

Not all seeds will make it.

This too is life. Sometimes there is no real explanation about why one grows and one does not. I was lucky with Plant- it grew, but there was no guarantee. If I wanted to increase my chances, I would have needed to plant more bulbs. When it comes to thinking about our personal and professional life, this is where prototypes and experiments come into it. We try things out in different ways, we realise that not all ideas are ready to grow, we understand that some need to stay in the dark for longer, we realise that failure is just an intrinsic part of systemic growth dynamics. We take a risk, and when the thing blooms, we enjoy it all the more.

Are you experimenting enough to grow?

.....

No doubt my thinking on this will change over time. Right now I hope it will also give you food for thought and you can think about how Plant may inform and inspire your own life.

Thank you Plant.

(Plant takes a bow. Applause from the rest of the garden. Curtains close)

TBC  later in the summer, when, all going well, we’ll have a bloom. In the meantime, I’m going to make sure I enjoy each stage of growth!

Want some one to one support to help you steward your ideas and creations to life?

Find out more about my creative mentoring options.

Want to come to West Cork for a deep dive? Wild Edge retreats are open (and the weather is amazing down here at the moment. A good time to book and soak in the place and space this has to offer).

''Clare’s care for details, deep listening and ability to pull the right question created a safe space for me to meet and connect to myself. Not only mentally but emotionally, spiritually and physically. She helped me navigate strong emotions and confusion and come out clearer the other side. She’s a lighthouse for when we need to go on the brave journey to our deeper selves, a journey which lead to truly fulfilled life' - Naomi Fein, Think Visual CEO, May 2018.   

In the Question is the Quest

 The more I sit still, the more I can really listen to what life is presenting to me- the opportunities, the love, the joy, the next steps. It helps me get out of my own way and presents me with images/ intuitions/ signs/ symbols and words which help to guide the way. Over the years I have practiced listening and acting on these images. They present me with questions, and in the question, is the QUEST. The questions have why, what, and where in then, not how and when. The how and when comes later. The learning is to listen to what is calling you, why you are drawn to it, what values you are honouring, what in you opens when you listen (Does your body come alive or shut down? Do you have feelings of stress or feelings of joy?). The aliveness, the joy- it is there to show you the way forward.  When we start with the ‘how’ (how do I build the next thing, or make the transition or the leap), it’s ripe ground for fear to enter too. Does an artist sit at an easel and ask, ‘How do I paint that tree, or that thing of beauty in front of me?’, or does a poet ask, ‘How do I write a poem?’ No- they listen first, they look and observe, they create the space for the work to flow, and then they show up to the creative, generative process inviting spirit, insight, action and intention to join them. Through the process and prototype they figure out the how.So often we approach our lives like strategic plans or business reports measuring ‘success’ by metrics not of our own. We worry so much about the how without listening for the why and the what. We forget to invite creativity and our innate wisdom into the equation.But what if we were to approach our lives like creative acts- an unfolding poem or an art work in progress? The art is in the living. What we create (jobs, businesses, networks, relationships, organisations, collaborations, new life paths) are then infused with this artful way- a work in progress, flexible and creating beauty in the world which serves the greater whole.This is what I mean when I speak of creative leadership. This is the only way I know that works.…Want to listen in to your intention, purpose and vision and learn to create aligned action and prototypes? Taking bookings now for one to one mentoring, vision mapping sessions and Wild Edge retreats (here in amazing West Cork) in which I share some of the tools, skills and practices for leading and creating your own one wild life...SaveSave

Working with the dark receptive...

 .It’s three weeks into January. Christmas holidays seem like a century ago (right?!) And right about now the slump can hit. Slump= procrastination/ doubt/ fear/ wanting to give up on whatever it is you set out in 2018 with and instead curl up in bed. Familiar?First up, curling up in bed in a wonderful thing, especially with a good book or a cuddly person beside you, or both! I’ve a new found appreciation for naps, for naps are dreamtime and dreamtime is our subconscious/ unconscious helping us to figure out the unknowns in our lives and reminding us of the mystery. So, yes to naps, especially when we are only still 3 weeks into January and (at least in the Northern Hemisphere, and very much in West Cork, it is wintery outside and the hailstones still insist on coming at us horizontally).And secondly the challenge is that default dominant cultural mode is to do. Get things done. Do things quickly. Like many of us, I’m a do-er. I get a buzz from starting projects and catalysing shifts. I love to see ideas made manifest in the world. So, I know it takes conscious effort for me to tap into the power of being. To be. We often associate being with ‘not doing’, which can, quite frankly, put the fear of God into all the default do’ers out there -and, yes, there are many of us!The other morning I got up and immediately jumped into my ‘to-do’ list. By 11am something was really off. I felt out of sorts, stressed, worried. Then it clicked- ah, my ‘to be list’. You’d think I would have learned by now. But learning is a cycle too.I am actively working with the celtic calendar at the moment and in these weeks before Imbolc (early Feb), we are in the dark receptive cycle. In this phase, ‘to be’ is to be receptive- to be open to receiving- to be growing with intent.I am realising that there are two layers to this receptivity- the inner and the outer.The inner layer is an inwards orientation to our own bodies. It asks us, what is it like to be receptive to our own presence, to the space of our bodies, and to our breath. What is it like to be open to feeling the textures we come in contact with on a moment by moment basis, and how does it feel to be aware of our intrinsic connection to all beings and all things, purely by virtue of our being-ness. To be is to be enough. That is baseline. This is the actual default of our lives, and yet we cover it up with busyness to safeguard ourselves from not feeling like we are enough.The outer later is the external ‘being-ness’: how we show up in the world around us. ‘To be’ in the dark receptive cycle is to be willing to give time to those parts of our life which are still in germination or gestation; to be engaged with the world as a receiver of knowledge, emotion, experience, grace and then to express this receptivity through a trust that life is forever unfolding, always, just as nature does.And so, with the remembrance, I return to my ‘to do’ list with a calmer breath. Suddenly the ‘to-do’ is put in perspective. I cross off some of the things which I realise are not urgent and return to the things which will help me to engage with the full presence of the day’s receptive unfolding.PRACTICESo, during these weeks, here is a really quick practice for you which could radically alter your day:As you start you day, begin with your ‘to-be’ list and only then write your ‘to-do list. This way you will be making room for what is essential and important, plus you’ll have a way of prioritising, especially when it comes to longer term goals. The urgent will suddenly seem less so. Try it for a few days in a row and notice how different your week is…JOURNAL PROMPTS:And here are a few journalling questions for you:What part of your life is in gestation - if could be an area of personal life or business? And how can you attend to it with the care and support, as if you are nurturing the very beginnings of a tender sampling? ..Learn More about Intentional Living and the Celtic CalendarIf you are interested in learning more about the celtic cycles and using the wisdom with in your own life and business, Living Seasonally, The Spring Edition, is open for registration. We start on Feb 3rd. We will be actively looking into how we refine our intentions and cultivate nurturing inner and outer habitats for our ideas, projects and lives to grow...COMING SOON! I’ll be sharing a beautiful Imbolc ritual with you all towards the end of this month- so watch this space. If you are not on my mailing list already, hop on over there, add your contact details and the ritual will be sent directly to you.… Want to work one-to-one with me? Clarity Sessions is one month of powerful attention, tools and support tailored just for you. Find out more here.

The Power Story // On Writing to the Truth of our Lives

‘We make our lives bigger or smaller, more expansive or more limited, according to the interpretation of life that is our story. - Christina Baldwin, Storycatcher. I have this strong feeling at the moment that tectonic plates are shifting. No, not those actual one, although we can all feel the earth shifting gear, but my own- the geography of identity and the geography of how I place myself in the world. What I thought were big solid chunks of me have been crumbling, like clay, and what remains feels raw and exposed.I’m not complaining; it’s about time, and on a scale of one to good, I’m definitely at the good end of that right now.Let me tell you a story.For the past five months or so I’ve been facing the blank page on a near daily basis, first in my journal and then to the book. The book is still very much a work in progress. I’m 95,000 words in now though and I’m about at the stage where I’ll be doing my first big edit. That’s five months of unearthing the tectonic plates which have formed me, 5 months of having whopper conversations with the layers of my identity, and 5 months of diving into the dark to bring up the pearls. It’s some dive.Already I can say this with 100% certainty that whatever happens next, if no one ever reads it, if I never write another word of it, the process of writing my story has fundamentally altered me- on a scale of one to good, I’d say remarkably so.I’d always known this about words and writing and the power of story, but I had never really really fully fully allowed the writing process to change me; like at a DNA level, like at a cellular one.This may all sound dramatic, for effect, but I kid you not, it’s not- I literally feel different in my bones.So, the story: Well, it’s about my own journey into womanhood, a story which criss-crosses religions, continents, professions, loves and longings. It goes back in time to my great-grandmother and forward to the future generations which are to inherit our collective legacies. It’s a story about the silences we carry and sometimes the shame which gets held somewhere in the marrow of us. It’s also a love letter to the sea. Books can do that you see, have magic potential to travel in space and time and to make meaning. I am finding this all out as I go.Telling my own story has been the biggest gift I have ever given to myself - by far.  It’s to do with my mother. The writing of the book has given me permission, in a way, to ask my mother questions I would not have asked otherwise. In doing so we are each getting to know each other better, and deeper, and so in a way the book has already given me the gift of my actual mother- not the mother of the stories I had made up in my head, but the mother who is filled with love and who has always been there. It’s beyond scale.  And I will be forever grateful for the book for this.But as tectonic plates shift, there is a natural churning and turning, and episodic outbreaks of turbulence. I’ve cried tears which I’ve held on to for years, I’ve released shame which was buried so deep I mistook it for my identity and I’ve shed layers and layers of stories which are no longer serving me. There is more to do, but by God, I knew writing was powerful but I did not realise just how powerful it can be, if we let it.So, yes, the tectonic plates are shifting. I’m entering into a new decade of my life next year, which seems significant. I know that how I am going to be showing up in the world will be different, and what I put out into the world will be different but it is not yet formed, and I can tell you this friends, that scares the tiddlywinks out of me, so much so that some days I don’t want to get out from under the covers and definitely not come out to play.For many of you who have been following my own journey for some time now, even as far back as the ‘One Wild Life’ book (*hello, and thank you), you’ll know that my path, particularly my career path, has shifted and changed route so many times it would make even a signpost dizzy, but I warn you, it is changing track again. I’ve a sense of it forming- likely to do with helping other people birth their books, and it is do with listening to the landscape (internal and external) for our own maps. I’m walking into that slowly… I have a big roll of white paper out tonight, scrawled with ideas, but the full story is just not their yet and (to drag the cliche out a bit longer), the next chapter is not quite ready to emerge. So yes, scary as scary, but trust is trust, and I am learning more and more to lean into that; so on a scale of scary to trust, I’m tipping the balance to trust right now, just.So, I suppose I wanted to share these words with you tonight to say that things will be changing around here, but I am not exactly sure in what ways yet, or when, but yes, changing.And I wanted to say, if you are thinking of writing your story- do it- because on a scale of one to certain I am beyond certain that it will change you.So, until soon,With love from the wild edge, on this Friday evening, beside a crackling fire, with Milly by my side as I am about to dive into a plate of roast vegetable and particularly the roast potatoes, so on a scale of one to bliss, it is definitely bliss.Clare. xx Want to stay in touch?Sign up to my newsletter for 'Notes on the Edge' and other creative leadership resources.

The new story to write...

Pause.What is the new story you want to write? For yourself? For the world?I have taken to my journal and working through these exact questions today. Our lives and narratives are constantly shifting which is why returning to these questions is so powerful.Take a blank page, sit for one minute in silence, set a timer for 5 mins, then write your response without stopping or lifting your pen. Go.(Ps - the answer is already inside you) .. 

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55 ways to get unstuck...

 Feeling creatively stuck? Here’s 55 quick things you can do to unstick! All in less than 5 mins. GO. 

1. Doodle.
2. Write a note to your inner artist.
3. Write a haiku.
4. Mimic a bird.
5. Draw a self portrait in 60 seconds.
6. Take a photo of an item that inspires you.
7. Find a new recipe and commit to making it this week.
8. Write a Limerick.
9. Tie your shoelaces with your non-dominant hand.
10. Make a paper airplane.
11. Dance on the spot to silence for 60 seconds.
12. Hand write a letter to someone who you admire. Post it.
13. Describe your favourite colour without using that colour’s name.
14. Write down a word that you really like the sound of. Sing it.
15. Rub your head and belly in opposite directions.
16. Draw the letter ‘A’ in 10 different ways.
17. If you could circumnavigate the globe, what route would you take?
18. Sit in silence for 2 minutes and listen to the music of your breath.
19. Close your eyes. Place your hand on your head and feel the texture of your scalp.
20. What colour would you be if you were a colour?
21. Draw your favourite childhood toy.
22. List 20 uses of a tea pot, other than for tea
23. Set a timer for 5 minute. Keep writing without stopping until the buzzer sounds.
24. Write your name with your non-dominant hand.
25. Take a picture of your feet- what surfaces do they touch?
26. Sing out loud for 3 minutes. Don’t stop.
27. Take a picture of the ‘essence’ of something in front of you. What is its real beauty?
28. Memorise a poem you love.
29. Draw a picture of snakes and ladders.
30. Look up: take a picture. What do you notice?
31. Shake your body for 2 mins. Yes, shake it.
32. Drink a glass of water from the opposite side.
33. List your top 5 of your favourite things. Now list them backwards. Now alphabetically. Now backwards alphabetically.
34. If you could be an animal, what would you be? Make that sound.
35. Pretend to be rain falling.
36. Think of the word ‘black’. Now dance the opposite.
37. Conduct an imaginary orchestra.
38. Bark like a cow. Moo like a dog.
39. Draw somebody standing on their head.
40. Set a timer for 5 min. Invent a board game. Go.
41. Spell your full name backwards.
42. Make up an alphabet.
43. Draw the best slide you could ever imagine sliding down.
44. Draw a pattern with circles and triangles.
45. Write down 10 things you used to love to do when you were 10. Do one of those.
46. Set a timer for 5 mins. Invent a robot. Go.
47. Mimic a dawn chorus.
48. List 5 textures you really like.
49. Think of the word ‘good’. Now sing the opposite.
50. Invent a new game using a piece of fruit.
51. Create on paper the best day of your life. Draw the details.
52. If snakes could draw, what would they draw. Draw that….
53. Walk backwards in a circle
54. Use your camera upside down.
55. Set a timer for 5 mins. Make up your own ‘Get unstuck list'. Go.

…Need a bit of extra support? I am currently taking creative coaching bookings. The Winter Sessions is open. 3 months to gain momentum and traction on  your creative project. Time to get that book written? Time to finally launch your thing?

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To be an individual drop in the tide of change...

 As news rolls around the world of deeply turbulent times, it settles uneasily in our hearts. It can indeed feel like we are on very shaky and uncertain ground. It can be so easy to feel overwhelmed, uncertain, even cynical. Where to turn? What to do? What difference can I make or will my work make?The questions are understandable and legitimate. But let’s lay it down on the line: what we choose to pay attention to matters. What we choose to create, support, honour and do with our time, talent and attention matters more than ever. Our kindness, our compassion, our empathy, our trust in strangers, our courage to keep going, our hope and our actions, send out ripple effects. Individually they may be small but even a small act can welcome a stranger, or see the beauty in the broken bits.You see alongside the turbulence, there is another a rising tide- a tide of people stepping up to their dreams, visions and values. We have seen the rise of creative leadership, a whole new field of social entrepreneurship and investment, the tech for good movement, the environmental movement, and those reaching out a hand to refugees, those choosing not to give into hate or fear, those willing to see beyond the black and white headlines. This rising tide knows there is always a choice.So, today, as the sad news enters into a deep chamber of the heart, let’s all do something small for another person. Something kind and compassionate; something simple that signals that there is always another way. It’s not to deny what is happening but it is to be part of the countercurrent.So maybe there is a person you have not been in touch with for a while- give them a call and say hello, tell them how much you have missed them. Maybe there is a cause you care about- make a donation. Maybe a loved one really needs a hug- offer your arms as a home and a haven. Yes, they are simple things, but each act, no matter how small are the individual the drops in the tide of change.With that in mind I have listed a few things in the resources and shared some happenings which are part of the tide too.Onwards, with hopeClare. xx

Resources & Happenings

Street Feast is happening again, with the big hearted Sam Bishop at the helm. Sunday 11th June. Time to get the tables, chairs and neighbours out..This Fund It Campaign: My friend Libby set up this wonderful dance company, Traces, which challenges perceptions of dance and disability. Now her daughter, Jessie Rowell is putting together a new show in collaboration with Downs Syndrome Ireland.I’ve never met Bill Megalos in person, but our paths online paths crossed years back and I have been tracking his beautiful initiatives. This time he is in Greece, making a documentary, Stuck in the Doorway’ about the refugees who are stranded as Europe continues to close its borders.The indefatigable Ruairi Mc Kiernan is also at it again, this time with his beautiful podcast, Love and Courage. I turn, over and over again, to the work and words of Krista Tippett. Her On Being radio show is solace and balm. Dive into the archives. This episode with Joanna Macy is rich with spirit. I have been studying the work of Diane Muso Hamilton via her book ‘The Zen of You and Me’- A Guide to getting along with just about anyone (thank you Mari Kennedy for making the link). Both  Diane and Mari are wise women, and the book feels globally timely.I find a tribe of beauty and compassion gathering around the work of Elena Brower. Her Teach.Yoga site has beautiful resources and connections to great teachers around the world.I loved this interview on Design Matters with writer and illustrator Maira Kalman. Mario’s curiosity and quest for the extraordinary in the ordinary served a great reminder that inspiration is everywhere.This TED talk with architect Siamak Hariri, who was the designer of the first Baha’i Temple in South America, speaks about designing for sacred space, taking inspiration from the swirls, twists and texture in nature. It too is a story of hope.And if you fancy a bit of fun this weekend, and you happen to be in West Cork, the Fastnet Film Festival  in Schull is starting tomorrow. I’ll be hopping over to Long Island to see The Crash Ensemble perform at dusk. Magic in the making..

In Memory

I would like to make a special mention in the post to the late Eamonn O’Dwyer. Eamonn was a mentor of mine in the early days of Suas when he voluntarily offered his time and impeccable facilitation skills helping us design the leadership training for our volunteer programme. He later became a board member of the organisation and I subsequently became a family friend, getting to know his beautiful wife, Tessa, and his three children. Eamonn sadly passed away earlier this month after a graceful and deeply open hearted struggle through cancer. As much as his life was an inspiration, his death has been too. He was one of those people who sent major ripple effects into the world by his very presence, compassion and insatiable zest for life. He was one of tide changers. His inspiration lives on. May you rest in beautiful peace, dear Eamonn and thank you for all, always.

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For the ones...

In my work as a writer and photographer, I have been blessed to meet the most remarkable of women, each who carry their own light, each to have a gift to bring to this world. I have met them in the best of times and in the most challenging of times. I have witnessed their deep pain and experienced their enduring joy. The strength of these women and girls is the backbone of the world. Their stories are the life-giving source of healing and hope. Today, on International Women’s day, I remember and honour them, for whether man or women,they are us, and we are them. This is for you. For the ones who love. For the ones who carry us onwards. For the mothers in us. And the lovers.For the ones who endure. For the ones who sacrifice.For the ones who give birth;  to children, dreams, desires, pain and progress.For the ones who grieve for us all. For the ones who don’t give up.For the ones whose voices are never heard. Them. Always for them.For the womb which was your first home in the world, and the woman who held you.For the ones who resist. And persist.For the music makers. For the artists. For the schemers.For the activists and the changemakers. For the homemakers and the breadwinners.For the ones who trust in another way.For the fighters. For the jokers. For the paradigm shifters.For the learners and the educators, the teachers and the students. For the guides, leading from the heart.For the one who plant and the ones who tend. For the carers and the givers.For the ones whose voices are never heard. Them. Always for them.For the ones leading the way and the ones laying the paths. For the bridgemakers, the weavers, the dancers. For those who are catalysing a new level of conversation and therefore connection.For the ones whose voices are never heard. Them. Always for them.For my great-grandmother, who was silenced and shut away, for being the woman that she was.For my grandmother, who worked until her bones bore the weight of her caring.For my mother, who gave birth to all this, and more.With love.

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Welcoming 2017

 Dear Friends,As 2016 shifts into 2017, and the old turns into the new, may I take this moment to send out some greetings and thanks. Thank you for your support, your participation and your openness. Thank you for your comments, feedback and community. I’m grateful, so grateful for it all.Like so many of you I love this time of year for the space to retract a bit from the pace of things and tune into what is calling me onwards. 2016 was a full on year for us all. The political has touched the personal and the personal has impacted the professional. At times it has all felt a bit overwhelming. There have been moments that the overwhelm got the better of me- at times it burst my energy and shifted me away from my intention, and particularly on a political level, it rattled my hope.Hope is such a precious thing, often fragile, and yet I think it is hope that is calling us and hope that must be protected.Hope, I am learning more and more, is an active and alive thing. It is kindled by small acts and it is amplified when it is met with the hope in others. It’s when you meet a friend, for instance, and you share a dream or vision; a belief that things can change for the better. It is when you see the beauty in the ordinary, knowing it too is extraordinary. It’s when you meet kindness in a stranger or when you are fully and truly listened to. It’s when you deeply connect with your own spirit and creativity, and it’s when you choose to take a step of courage or faith. Each act of hope, no matter how small, matters. And to this belief I feel we must cling, steadfastly.Over the last few days, the image of a lighthouse keeps popping with for me. Lighthouse are not afraid of their light- their very function is to shine through the darkness. They are beacons, they are steady, they are grounded. And they are most effective when they work together. A single lighthouse may guide a ship to shore, but when that shoreline is studded with lighthouses, the whole coast becomes a marker to harbour- a necklace of light.As I sense into what 2017, and beyond, is calling, it is for each of us to stand firm and allow our light to shine. All of us. It’s calling on us too to get really clear on our intention, on what is really calling us to create or serve and to focus in on that. The time is precious, and our light is precious too. I’m hopeful that we can, especially when we convert hope into action.And so my own intention is to kindle my hope with daily action towards my vision and by reaching out to others for collaboration, support and connection. My professional focus in 2017 will be on growing and developing Thrive School- developing even better content, learning programmes, products and curriculum, and on a personal level it’s on my health and fitness. In order to do that, I need to stay really clear with what I seek to create and say no to a lot of distraction. I stay clear with regular yoga practice, exercise, journalling, reading less online news, walking my dog. I keep the vision alive though conversations with other people who ‘get’ it, with a vision board (I use a private Pinterest board for this) and by continually breaking big projects and plans down into small, tangible action steps.

And you? What’s your intention? What is it that is really calling you? 

If those questions are too hard to answer right now or feel too overwhelming, please don’t worry. Instead, let the silence in. Find a quite spot. Sit still for a while. And listen. Or if sitting isn’t your thing, take a walk in nature, in a wild spot, and bring the questions with you. Let them stir you and inspire you. Do what you can to keep the questions alive in you. Don’t be afraid of them. Ask for the big dream. Ask for a vision, and let the silence and the wildness guide you. I have no doubt there you will find some clues… then follow them and see how the question has evolved within you. It’s all waiting for you - for your light, and  therefore hope, is already inside you.Next week I’ll be sending another message with Thrive School dates for 2017, news of new one day workshops in Dublin, and other ways we can work one to one together. But for now, as we cross over from one year to the next, let’s collectively bow to the year gone by for its gifts of insights and challenges and let’s open the door to the new, knowing we can be a lighthouse to ourselves and to each other- grounded, rooted, clear, beaming. It’s time.Onwards, with love and gratitude,Clare. 

Doing the things that make our hearts beat faster…

It is about connection. It is about creating. It is about following those lines or curiosity until they take you to the next path, then the next.The things that makes your heart beat faster? Well, they are the things that bring a sparkle to your eye, make you want to keep going, make you feel alive at a soul level, that essential level, that place that you know is home.I want more of these moments in my life because it’s the moments that make a life. So I ask myself, what am I willing to let go of in order to allow them to enter. What can I re-shuffle? What edge can I step towards? And where is my deep yes.Making a list of the things, those heart beating moments, brings me closer. The list helps to take us to them because writing them down makes them visible, and where it’s visible we can focus.So here are some of mine… the deep yes, the beat enduring moments: It’s those times when I’m listening to someone share their honest, open, brave, raw, indomitable truth - the kind that not only makes my heart beat faster but rips it open too.It is those moments when I’m painting, about to do the final flick or make brave stroke that will either make it or break it.It’s when I’m writing and I feel that the words are flowing through me, as if gifted from another.It is when I reach out to someone I admire and get a loving response.It is those times on the yoga mat, especially when I have resisted being there, when my body and bones come to a place of surrender and release, clicking itself back into alignmentIt’s in the meeting of a stranger, when in a look, an instant, you know you have a friend - that look offers a safe passage to a knowing which time and distance bear no consequence.It’s with camera in hand, when light is *just perfect* and with a timely click, the elegant and mystical can creep through the lens.It is those racing moments before I launch- a project, a website, a new offering- when ALL the fear and vulnerability is shouting into the inner chambers of my being while simultaneously waving the red button before my fingertips. Click.It is sitting in stillness, in silence, until I can hear the sound of my own beat.It is that second when driving across the Irish landscape an opening occurs-  a parting of clouds or the way the light gathers on the green and heather, setting it aglow.It is just before I’m about to speak in front of a group, especially when I know what I’m about to say is not necessarily the easiest, or most popular, but wants to be said.It is travelling to a new place, knowing no one, but trusting I soon will.It is pressing publish. And yours?  Go ahead, give yourself a few minutes with your journal to remind yourself what your heart is calling for. What will make you feel alive? You are already close to it. The list will help to take closer. And remember: in the writing it become visible, and where it is visible we can focus.

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