Skip to main content

WAITING FOR GO

     

     Change is the natural process of life, and in nature it always starts small. A seed. An acorn. Kittens. In nature, the process continually transforms a tiny thing into whatever it is designed to be as long as there is energy available. Seeds into pumpkins. Acorns into oaks. Kittens into furry ambassadors of love. Energy is key, as it is in the intangible - but still completely natural - process that is psychological/emotional growth. As human beings we have the unique capacity to deny change at the same time it is happening and put off actionable change that nature or just good common sense indicates is necessary. We can stop dead as if at a red light, freezing in fear or denial, throwing up psychological roadblocks to the natural flow of creative energy that drives transformation. Stagnant energy turns into anxiety, which amplifies the scary voices in our head and can distort our perception so much that even small things seem unmanageable. So we wait.
by Jude Treder-Wolff, LCSW, RMT, CGP


     We tend to think the creative, gutsy changes that will redirect our lives must wait for storms to pass, or for the sun to shine into our dark night of the soul, or for that magical day when we finally feel worthy or confident or, at long last, lucky. We wait to be rescued, or redeemed. It may seem that our circumstances are too difficult, life is too painful and stress-filled, or we are just too tired for the discipline required for self-awareness. The pressures to which we have become accustomed and expectations of others – both living and those long past caring - that we have allowed to shape our choices spike our sense that internal opposition to change is likely to exhaust and overwhelm us.   
     But all of human history says that the way to the happiness and freedom we seek lies not beyond our difficulties, but within them. Once we call upon the internal “enzyme” that drives change—our creative self—we are on a new path. Every creative choice, every step into uncertainty and not-knowing strengthens the psychological “muscle” to determine our own attitude and define the roles we choose to take in life. From that intangible strength within, we may discover novel approaches to the problems that face us. Ideas come in from nowhere, or anywhere, but they come and lead onto other ideas. A shift in consciousness will certainly bring about change within us, and there is always the potential, no matter how remote, that it can bring about a radical change in our circumstances.

Jude Treder-Wolff is a writer/performer, singer and creative arts psychotherapist. She is host of (mostly) TRUE THINGS-Long Island's first local storytelling slam. 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Improvisation Games & Exercises For Developing Emotional Intelligence

    Since September Lifestage has been offering a monthly training workshop exploring the use of improvisation to develop Emotional Intelligence . These workshops have been geared toward the work done by clinicians, educators and trainers who guide the process of personal change or professional development, but as it turns out we have enjoyed some interesting diversity among the participants -  managers, business owners with both employees and customers, community activists, and performers.      Below is a collection of the exercises we have used in the workshops, accompanied by some studies that supports their use.  by Jude Treder-Wolff, LCSW, RMT, CGP       Why Improvisation? Improvisation is a powerful way to become aware of mental habits and patterns. Reflecting on our inner experiences after engaging in an improvisation exercise provides an opportunity to decide whether our mental habits are effective and useful or self-limiting and obsolete.  The tensions of the crea
67 comments
Read more

WARM-UP EXERCISES FOR GROUP WORK - For Therapeutic, Educational or Training Groups

Nicholas Wolff, LCSW, BCD, TEP , Director of Training at Lifestage, Inc and Jude Treder-Wolff, LCSW, RMT, CGP, Trainer/consultant and writer/performer. Follow on twitter @JuTrWolff         “To begin assembly one must have the right attitude,” goes a Japanese instruction for assembling a particular object, as quoted in Zen and the Art of Motorcyle Maintenance. The "right attitude" is one that best serves the action we are preparing to engage in, j ust as an athlete warms up his/her muscles before using them in the stress of a work-out or game. Psychological and emotional "muscles" that are properly warmed up will perform more effectively and make it less likely that we will experience strain or allow fear to produce a shut-out when things get rolling.     The right warm-up makes everything learned in a training situation or classroom more accessible and immediately useful to the trainee/student. New skills and knowledge - in education, personal growth or a profe
60 comments
Read more

Stories To Light Up The Night: An Interview With International Teacher/Trainer, Storyteller and Author Susan Perrow

        "It is easy to forget how mysterious and mighty stories are. They do their work in silence, invisibly. They work with all the internal materials of the mind and self. They become part of you while changing you." Ben Okri, Birds of Heaven Stories can change your life and when they do you almost never see it coming. The way a story gets into our consciousness is often subtle and suprising. Something about it sticks. And if we allow the story to do its work it sticks exactly where we need it. This is true of both receiving a story and making one. The skills required to weave together character, conflict and color to create a vivid and imagination-grabbing tale that is also transformative takes time, training and experience to develop. It helps to be familiar with the impact of stories on our own inner life, recovery and growth. It helps also to have an inspiring, gifted teacher to guide the process.        Such was my experience in April at a full-day wo
13 comments
Read more