Practicing Flexibility

Dear friends, 

For most of my life, my body has been quite flexible. This has changed over the last several years and for the last month I've been in physical therapy because I have a frozen shoulder, though I'm not sure what I did to cause it. When I've told people about the diagnosis, I've heard numerous stories of other people's experiences of frozen shoulders. I've concluded that, as these things go, I've been pretty lucky. My shoulder didn't start quite as frozen as other people's and I've steadily regained the ability to move it in directions it wouldn't move a month ago. 

A couple of days ago I gave a presentation to young people. The organization I was working with asked me to create a session on a particular topic. I put together the presentation, shared it with someone from the organization, who said she liked it. And then came presentation time...

Let's just say it didn't go how I hoped it would. Still I persisted in trying to give the presentation I had planned. A handful of kids were with me the whole time. A lot of kids were done even before we started. As I thought about it afterwards, I noted that the number of young people was much higher than expected, the presentation was late in the day, and also, it is late in the school year. Given those circumstances, it would be difficult to keep kids engaged about any topic, let alone the serious one I was talking about. Oh, and did I mentioned I was giving the presentation in Spanish? I used to teach Spanish, but it's been a while since I've been immersed in a fully Spanish-speaking context. 

I have several more of these presentations to give. I've thought a lot about how I can change the presentation to engage the kids more and how I can be better prepared for what is out of my control. 

I've been asking myself: How can I build in more flexibility to begin with and how can I increase my agility so I can adjust course in response to the audience and circumstances? 

Flexibility is a practice. Everyday I have the opportunity to learn anew how far I can move my arm in one direction or another. It keeps changing. 

Flexibility is a practice. I gave a brand new presentation for a group I've never worked with to an audience I didn't know in a language that I haven't used regularly in awhile. All of these conditions felt contraining.

With more presentations to give, I have the opportunity to practice flexibility here, too: to stretch in relationship with the organization I'm working with; to bend the content more to the interest and willingness of the audience; to flex my Spanish skills; to learn, to learn, to learn.

Other areas of my life are giving me the opportunity to practice flexibility, too. Stretching, I've decided to offer a facilitated process of The Artist's Way starting later this month. Additionally, I'm being extending myself in new directions through other work that is coming to me.

All of this is also teaching me about my limits. My physical therapist knows when he's stretching me past pain I can tolerate by the way my breath changes and my face scrunches. In other situations, it's up to me to state clearly: I cannot or will not bend that way. This doesn't work for me. I will do this, but I won't do that. 

And now I wonder about you:

Where is your life encouraging you to practice flexibility? 

In those areas, how does it feel to stretch?

Is it a welcome lengthening, a hurt-so-good feeling, or a pain that's beyond what you're ready for? 

What limits are becoming clear to you? 

I'd love to know. 
      

To learn more about The Artist's Way and other offerings, visit this page. If they speak to you, I hope you'll join me.  If you know of others who'd love this work, please share with them!

With love, 
Cory