"Don't prepare. Just show up."

This felt like radical life advice when I received it from my design thinking professor at Dartmouth as he gifted me the book Improv Wisdom by Patricia Ryan Madson. Taking his advice felt terrifying to me and at odds with my whole education experience and way of living. I was overprepared, wanted to optimize everything, and tried to plan out each step of the way. Fueled by a drive to avoid failure, that approach worked quite well for me to "succeed" throughout school. 

Since college, I've learned just how valuable my professor's advice was. And I'm seeing the value in it anew during this time of uncertainty. This is a time for just showing up to this moment as it's unfolding. 

The nature of life is change and uncertainty. We come alive in the act of balancing, not in being balanced. We can learn to embrace the wobble. As Patricia Ryan Madson writes: "Sensations change moment by moment; sometimes we feel secure, sometimes precarious. In the long run we develop tolerance for instability. As we come to accept this insecurity as the norm, as our home ground, it becomes familiar and less frightening." 

As we get better at being with change, we can practice sensemaking of what's emerging in this collective inflection point. We can say yes to what's arising and practice staying open and flexible so we can respond intentionally rather than being in fear-based reactive mode. 

Let's embrace the wobble together. 

Below are a few resources to support you. 

With love,

Sarah-Marie

Resources

[MIRCO-PRACTICES] Recentering 

I wanted to offer a few examples of micro-practices that you can use to recenter yourself throughout the day. When you are centered, you are most in touch with yourself and your resourcefulness, creativity, compassion, and wisdom. You are also more easily in touch with others and your surroundings. What micro-practice could you use to recenter yourself? 

Two Feet, One Breath

Feel one foot, then feel the other foot, and then take one conscious breath. 

Sensing into Mind, Heart & Body 

Take a few moments to check in with yourself. Allow your attention to drop deep within your belly. Sense your whole self from within - your body, your heart, and your mind. What are you present to (physical sensations, emotions, mood, thought patterns, clarity of mind, …)? Not to fix anything but to allow what's there. 

STOP Technique

Developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn. 

S- Stop for a moment. Don't react. Give yourself the gift of a brief reflection. 
T-Take a breath. Breathe in and out. Track your breath. Sense the chest rising and falling. 
O-Observe your experience. Notice the sensations in the body. Observe the thoughts or the story going through your mind, and appreciate that thoughts are not facts. Explore your emotions and get a sense of where you are in this moment. 
P - Proceed. Move forward in a way that feels right to you and is consistent with your values.

[POEM]

Cleave by David Whyte