Are you free falling?
A stranger followed me out of my yoga class to the car after hearing my teacher ask me about the progress of Solutionaries. “Tell me about your book please” she said quietly. “Tell me about you” I responded.
“I’m free falling. I’ve left corporate America and I can’t seem to land on anything that I feel connected to, that I feel excited about, that I believe I’m making a difference.” I have heard variation after variation of this story and this sentiment for weeks and months. There is an emptiness right now in the hearts of many in this country and around our world. The waves of bad news are relentless, fast and furious. In many instances, we have put our shields up and gone within.
And that was the genesis of Solutionaries, a roadmap for those who want to make a difference but not quite sure where to begin. I was off working on my own corporate gig when I started receiving calls from strangers referred to me for assistance. But not legal assistance, something much deeper than that. They were looking for work where they felt connected and inspired. After receiving four phone calls in a week, it felt like a sign and I believed that I could help if they would stick with me. I gathered them up and set up the first mastermind.
You can’t run through sludge, you must take it one step at a time. But you will get through it lighter with conviction in your step if you just keep moving forward. First, it was clear to me that each of us need to truly understand the value we bring to the table. Not the job skills or education but the gifts and talents we have acquired in the school of life. It is our experiences that shape our values and make us who we are today and show us what we appreciate most.
Second, can others see the values we believe we represent? Do your friends and acquaintances know the things that are really important and valuable to you? Have you asked them what is important to them? Does our personal brand (what people think about us when we leave the room) reflect our true self or have we somehow created an image we think others want to see? Think about your resume and your linked profiles and the words that you use, before you answer these questions.
It was show and tell time. I asked the group to share three things that interested them and three things that bothered them. When we got together, they told me that this had been painful for them, that it had forced them to look up and actually touch issues with their hearts, to look at the problems that they wished no longer existed. What I know for sure is that until we crack our hearts open and actually touch these issues, we are not open to the joy of filling our hearts with both gratitude and a sense of personal fulfillment.
Throughout the rest of this discovery process, we found their tribes, people working in the space of the issues that they felt engaged with and, we created a strategy for them to connect, give back and make a difference. They have found work that pays their bills and fills their hearts. The journey for me has been as profound as each of the people that have walked and continue to walk it with me.
Many of us remember the song “Age of Aquarius” (also known as “Let the Sunshine In”) written in 1969 for the musical Hair. The lyrics of this song were based on the astrological belief that the world would soon be entering an age of love, light, and humanity. I know that when we look out at the world, it may not really seem like this is happening, that we are walking through the sludge right now. I’m not really sure whether the moon is in the seventh house or whether Jupiter is aligned with Mars, but I do see rays of sunshine as the old ways fall away and changemakers step up to the plate.
We are restless to see substantive positive change on our planet. But we can’t stand at the side of the dance floor, we must step on to it. I’m getting ready to walk with the next set of eight on this journey to becoming a Solutionary. Our Summer Illuminate Masterclass registration is open and if you want to dance the dance with us, I hope that you will join a group of Solutionaries that want to make a difference. It’s intimate and it’s personal to you because we need you, the world needs you.
Copyright © Linda Lattimore