“There is a Time for Every Season…”
I started this initial blog entry in the Spring. The first words of the message described the surges of energy and optimism that are inherent in Spring, when we are surrounded by signs of vibrant growth and color and new life. It seemed like the perfect time to initiate this next chapter of the Curse of the Competent Woman™. And it was a year, nearly to the day, since the first public Competent Woman workshop. It was perfect…..
Now it is the start of Fall and I am just posting the entry. The pace of life has changed and the world around us looks a bit different. The core message, however, is the same. The message is that life is not linear; life is cyclical. There are predictable changes, typical ebbs and flows that occur over and over again, year after year. Although the nuances of the seasons vary from year to year, and different geographic locations display different manifestations of the seasons, there is predictability in the cycle…budding life, fullness of life, harvest time, dying back, hibernation, budding life, and on and on….
Our personal lives are no different. There are predictable ebbs and flows…times when we are filled with life and energy and hope and joy and times when we are immersed in quietness and contemplation. There are times when things go remarkably well and we feel blessed and nearly invincible and times when nothing we touch turns out right.
The time and attention I have invested in the Curse of the Competent Woman™ work is defined by numerous cycles of ebbing and flowing, starting and stopping. All of it laced with a composite of good intentions, learning, some forward progress, and waves of guilt and self-flagellation. The latter being evidence of the curse side of my (inconsistent) competence. I am learning a great deal in the various seasons of this work….
One of my key lessons (more to follow in subsequent posts) … There is magic in being gentle with oneself, trusting that the right things will happen at the right time.
Being gentle with oneself is a novel concept for most competently cursed women. We didn’t get to where we are by being gentle with ourselves; we got here (wherever that may be) by being innately curious, somewhat creative, intensely focused, and often relentless and hard-driving in our pursuit of a particular objective. Being gentle is something we encourage others to do, not a ‘luxury’ we typically afford ourselves.
In my more lucid moments, I remember that life is cyclical and I practice listening…and observing…rather than driving and pushing. There is great wisdom in nature. In nature life unfolds…it evolves in an ongoing, cyclical progression not in a steady upward movement like so many business charts reveal. We are natural creatures. We are created to unfold, to evolve in an ongoing, cyclical progression. There is magic in recognizing the pattern, being gentle with ourselves, trusting that the right things will happen at the right time.
Thank you for joining me on the journey through the ‘curse of competence’ to more sane, vibrant, joyful, peaceful living. Here we go!
