I am accepting the unacceptable. Not because it is acceptable, but because it is.
Bad things are happening, they always do. I feel them deeply. I meet people on my dog walks, and I see them on social media, who want to talk about the war in Ukraine, how awful it is, did you hear what’s happened now, why are we not doing anything. And I want to say I hear you, I feel your despair, and I’m not being callous but… I don’t have time for that. It’s happening; no matter how much I wish it wasn’t, it is. So what do we do now?
“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo. “So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
Once we accept the truth of what is around us, then we can start to change it. This attitude is what first drew me to Dark Mountain, and is at the heart of both my coaching and my artistic practice. OK, this is A Thing. What are you going to do with that? Because nothing happens unless you make it happen.
Building on the desire to create, not to dwell, is what has brought so many of my random ideas to fruition – community arts, coaching, support networks. I am not knocking discussion, or the need to talk without pressure to ‘do’. We absolutely need that space, and it is the foundation of understanding. But when it comes to figuring out what to do with that understanding, then hit me up because that’s where I shine. I always say to my clients, I love that you have dreams, now let’s make them real.
