Bringing Amazing
"Permissions" To Life
Photography by Tanita Seton Photography
I FIRST HEARD LIZ GILBERT SPEAK AT THE ULTIMATE GIRLS WEEK AWAY, AN AMAZING ANNUAL RETREAT, THIS YEAR HELD IN THE STUNNING BEAUTY OF A PRIVATE FIJIAN RESORT.
O
ther than being a bestselling author I knew very little about Liz Gilbert. I quickly learned that she’s an impressive woman, someone who speaks with a vulnerability that reflects not only the wisdom but also the humility learned from both success and devastation. Suddenly she gave a quote that etched itself into my memory bank. “The most powerful woman in any situation is the most relaxed woman in the room”. I’ve been teaching mindfulness for over 4 decades, I teach the importance of the relaxed, non-judgemental way of being. I had never considered relaxation as an implement of power. It would take the words of Liz Gilbert and a worldwide pandemic to teach me that it was.
With Liz as our guide we wrote two long, unapologetic, fact-filled and heart felt letters. Each beginning with “Dear <name>, this is <topic> and I would like to tell you…..”, each to be shared with those around us. The first topic was fear. I tensed as memories of opportunities lost or spoiled by fear rose from the darkest recesses of my memory and poured onto the page. The sharing was quiet, long held fear laden secrets whispered between new friends. The second letter was from enchantment, or as Liz defined it, love. Time to focus on all the things that bring us heart felt joy, the things that we might not do enough, the things we should do more of and that fear might hold us back from. Fear set aside, this time the sharing filled the
The most powerful woman in any situation is the most relaxed woman in the room.
room with the excitement of joyous potential. With each letter written and shared, Liz highlighted what we were all beginning to realise. While our enchantments were all so vastly different, fear, despite our various backgrounds, nationalities and ages, was universal, it was, we discovered, variations on very similar and familiar themes. Liz shared that it is only when we can recognise our fears and face them from a place of relaxation, can we hope to silence them, and it is only in silencing them that we can truly hear the voice of enchantment. Our final exercise was our permission slip. Beginning with the words “I am the head teacher and I give <name> permission to ………”, we revelled in the amazing things that others were giving themselves permission to do, raising our voices after each offering and joyously shouting ‘Permission Granted’, smiling as the room filled with offers of support that would help bring amazing permissions to life.
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| MUMPRENEUR MOVEMENT
