This is what Rosa Say tells us about N?n? i ke kumu on Managing with Aloha:

“Literally translated N?n? i ke kumu means “look to your source”. Seek authenticity, and be true to who you are… In the Hawaiian culture, sense of place factors very deeply into this value, sense of place being defined as both the feel of a place, and the feel for a place.”

As I said in my earlier piece, my own ‘power source’ is the west coast of Scotland. I was lucky enough to have a flying (not literally!) visit to Oban at the weekend. The sun came out as I headed west and I enjoyed a glorious afternoon of west highland sunshine. I realised when I was there that certain images contribute to my ‘sense of place’ and to the feeling the place evokes in me, the sense of recognition that I am ‘here’.

Those pictures and images include:

• The deep blue water of a sea loch
• An oystercatcher at the shore
• Black faced sheep

• Tiny flowers creeping out of the rock

• A Calmac ferry crossing the bay

If I had to pick just one… I think it’d have to be the CalMac ferry.

Anyway all of this made me wonder – are there images and pictures that give you that sense of place, that instant surge of recognition, that knowledge that you’re plugging back into the source?

A little boy who proudly showed us his school jotter marked with a big ‘well done’ from his teacher.  The parents who told us about the transformation that had taken place in their child as a result of going through the programme – from someone who wouldn’t go out to play to "a different wee boy".  And then there was the man in his 40s, a successful businessman and entrepreneur who had only recently realised why he had ‘switched off’ from education at the age of 10, and had had a miserable, excruciating humiliating experience at school: he was dyslexic.  Their stories were powerful: about what can be done, about the huge potential that lies within people who are ‘labelled’ by the system, about the determination of individuals to fight obstacles and create a good life for themselves and their families. 

I felt inspired and humbled to hear these stories, but also frustrated and angry at how we as a society and our institutions create the circumstances for so much unhappiness and struggle, rather than adapting the way we teach and work and learn so that everyone can fulfil their potential, regardless of their learning style.

Still, it’s great to see how interventions like this dyslexia coaching programme can transform the experience of individuals and their families.  If you’d like to find out more about the potential of dyslexia coaching to help someone in your family do just drop me an e-mail at joanna@coachingwizardry.com

Robyn McMaster has a useful post on the importance of play in recharging our batteries and avoiding burnout. As she reminds us:

"Play increases serotonin, Play increases a hormone of well-being, in your brain."

Her post includes a link to an on-line burnout test at Psychology Today – you can access it here. I took the test out of curiosity.  I’m nowhere near burnout these days but as I ran through the questions I was taken back to times in my past when I have been if not burnt out then at least close to it.  If you think this might be you, please, please do something about it before it leaves you completely empty.  As a starting point I’d thoroughly recommend the work of Dina Glouberman, including her book ‘The Joy of Burnout’.

But we all need things that recharge our batteries, that plug us back into our natural power source.  That includes play, spending time with people we love, doing things that make us feel refreshed and alive, going to places that inspire us.  My own ‘power point’ is the highlands and islands of Scotland.  I found a way to fit in a flying visit to Arran on Sunday.  After a dreich start the sun came out at lunchtime, I had a picnic overlooking the Holy Isle, stretched my legs with a seven mile walk and soaked in hours and hours of bright spring sunshine.  I came back with my batteries in great health: energised, plugged in, recharged.

We’re all different, and we all need different things to spark us, to ignite our passions, to top up our batteries.  When you feel your batteries are running low: do you know where to go to plug into the source?

Two thirds of those interviewed said they were "unfulfilled", "miserable" or "drifting" in their jobs.  (Even more in Scotland – 70% said they were dissatisfied.)  And more than half said they’d happily earn less money in a job that made them feel better about themselves. 

This trend, labelled ‘zenployment’ may also reflect our thoughts on a longer period of ‘retirement’, with people making different and more exciting plans for a second career rather than going to live in a cottage in the country.

Of course moving into a second career – especially stepping down financially – is less than totally easy and people acknowledged that financial commitments, lack of training and also fear of failure might be holding them back… at least temporarily.  One of the most interesting findings (for me) was that people are taking this business seriously, with ‘the road to zenployment’ taking an average of 9 years.  The researchers found that 36 was the typical age that people started to prepare for their second career, to plan for more fulfillment in the second half of their life.

That’s probably about right -  I’d say 36 was about the time most of the ‘second career’ people I know (self included) started working towards their new future.  Working with a life coach can make a huge difference as you work through that path to zenployment – helping you to explore your options, to identify what action you need to take and when, to work out the values that are most important to you and that you want to feature more importantly in the ‘second half’, to expand your map of the world and help you to realise just what might be possible…

If you are already on or just starting the path to zenployment do get in touch if you think a life coach could help – just e-mail me at joanna@coachingwizardry.com.

It would also be great to hear from other second career people out there.  What age were you when you started to plan for the next chapter?  How long did the path to zenployment take you?  What’s it like now you’re there?!

This was a chance to listen in to ideas and discussion as well as the poems, with conversations flowing on the way over, as we explored the island at half time, and on the cold windy boat trip back to Ullapool once we’d finished.

I thought I’d share some of the fragments that made the greatest impression on me.   What connects them together is the sense of creativity I suppose – moving beyond fixed labels and identities, breathing new life into our thinking, shaking off stale arguments and creating something new.  Maybe some of them will connect with you.

Not just a glass half full
Perhaps the real question is not whether you are a pessimist or an optimist, but what you do with what you see.  You can be a pessimist by nature but still take action to create a better world.  Live, work and write as a “possibilist”

The centre of the universe
Wherever you are is the centre of the world.  Look, learn, listen, love the place where you are.  Make connections in that place, that space, then watch the connections spread outwards.  Even in somewhere as remote as Isle Martin we were reminded of this.  The rocks running underground, connecting to seams that run across continents.  Oceans that connect lands, peoples, voices.  The global perspective of migratory birds.

Another nation
Questions of nationality and identity are much to the fore in Scotland at the moment.  This is often framed as one or t’other, a black and white choice: Scottish or British.  Neither answers the question of who we are or want to be in this 21st century globalised, fragmented world.  How about allowing us room to be
citizens of the planet?  Or to claim a sense of place – to the Atlantic maybe – and to assert a connection with all the other places and people that are touched by that mighty ocean?  Or perhaps give us the chance to vote for a scurrilous poet as the first minister of the imagi-nation…

Which reminds me of the opening question.  “What do you need a poet for?”

It’s from Aristophanes – the answer too.

“To save the city, of course.“

Spring is also the season of new possibilities.  A reminder of things that might be starting to stir and change within us.  The knowledge that it’s time for a change – even if we don’t quite know what that means – yet.

I found a wonderful quote that captures this mood – it was on one of Hilda Carroll’s ‘thoughts for the week’ (I love the way she puts these out to get us going going again after the weekend).  It’s from the writer Anais Nin:

And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.

If that sounds like you and you’re ready to take that step forward… or if you just want to take advantage of the power and the energy of the spring-time I am offering a special “spring into summer” tele-coaching package.  It’s a great opportunity to get you moving on your goals, your dreams, your ambitions.  To start tackling the things it’s long since time to clear away. To create the space for possibility and new growth.

Meantime, enjoy the start of May, the long weekend and the joy of watching the trees in blossom.