Interrupted Thought Process

“Am I stubborn?”
asked the founder.

“Your thought process
is constantly being
interrupted.”
I responded.

“What do you mean?”
he asked,
looking puzzled.

“For you
to change your mind,
you have to think things through,
right?”
I asked.

“Yes, of course.”
he answered.

“But if people around you
are only telling you
what they think,
your thought process
can constantly get
interrupted.”
I continued.

“Unless a space is created,
where you can think through things
without being interrupted
you will be unlikely
to change your mind.”
I remarked.

Connection

We look at our hands
and see the fingers,
often forgetting to appreciate
the spaces
between them.

Yet,
without spaces
there are no fingers.

In much the same way,
we may look at a chain
and see the connections,
forgetting to appreciate
the boundaries
between them.

Yet,
without boundaries
there are no connections.

Love vs Relationship

Love is a force that can hold the space between “self” and “other.”
Relationship is the quality of space between “self” and “other.”

Being in love with an “other,”
and having a good relationship with them
are two different issues.

Whether the “other” is people, work, things, etc…

  1. You can be in love with them,
    and not have such a wonderful relationship.
  2. You can have a wonderful relationship with them,
    and not be in love.

Men, not Unlike Women, are Complex

In a workshop I lead,
a woman—a wife—
publicly shared
that she never realized
how complex
men were.

She’s always assumed
men
were simple.

She witnessed
that when a coach creates a space
in which men
can be brave enough
to expose their feelings
of fear and shame
the complexity gets articulated.

It’s difficult o articulate what we’ve yet to learn how,
especially when there is social risk.

It often feels easier
to hide
or to repress.

Many men live this way
their entire lives.

There’s significant misunderstanding
or misperception
between men & women.

Much well-intended,
but overly simplistic misinformation
as well.
(i.e. Men are from Mars,
Women are from Venus)

These may mask things in the short term,
but things can eventually erupt.