The weekend workshop was a process of cathartic release. We explored the past, released some pain, distinguished the roots and glanced at the future. At the end of this process many were relieved of the past to some degree. For some there was a glimpse of authentic validation which felt new and deliciously wonderful. The sense of freedom was real and the accompanying energy, positivity and love was tangible.
Then we reentered our day to day lives. Maybe for a few days we rode high on the coat tails of authentic validation. Maybe this got crushed the moment we stepped back into our workplace, or at the party with friends who had not been on the workshop or during a conversation with mum on the phone. Our fragile new sense of self, so gloriously celebrated in the safe and honourable space of the workshop suddenly gets knocked around. So we look for support, to experience once again the sense of safety and joy we felt over the weekend. We find this in the blog, social meet ups and supportive phone calls. The world we inhabit can feel suddenly more brutal or aggressive and we can struggle to keep afloat.
So, we created Workouts- short, theme based sessions that would sustain us in the weeks and months following the glory of the weekend workshop. During these ‘workouts’ we gather again in the same space, a little battered maybe, a little cynical, a little the worse for wear, maybe.
This is where possibility meets reality. The rubber hits the road. This is the moment it starts to become apparent that there’s work to be done. Work on ourselves, work on our communities, friendships, families. This is a sobering realisation. So we have to shift gears. We move from celebration to actualisation. This is going to be work, messy, joyful, difficult, frustrating, inspiring, energising, annoying, enlightening… The list goes on. In many ways it is just a beginning.
Moving from unconscious to conscious can be transformational, revolutionary and thrilling. Staying conscious can be a pain in the butt. Sometimes we long to go back to our blissful ignorance, sometimes we cannot bear to be aware of our shortcomings and feel incompetent. Sometimes we are up for the challenge and practice our new found authenticity and often we fall back into old behaviours and patterns. Sometimes it feels as though everyone else is just getting on with it, while we are having to reflect, journal, talk and question ourselves. Sometimes it just feels unfair, hard work, hopeless.
As we move forward, because that is how we move, we will have the moments of triumph, where we consciously break a pattern, understand ourselves and find ourselves at choice and freedom. Sometimes we don’t. That is the territory, that is the Quest.
This is The Work and this is The Quest.
