I was reading the new book by Jan Stringer and Alan Hickman this morning called, BEE-ing Attraction ~ What Love Has to do With Business and Marketing. In the second chapter they spoke of the importance of having a Board of Directors, even as a solo-entrepreneur. This led me to consider the possibility of having a Board of Directors for my life.
In ME FIRST- If I Should Wake Before I Die, I write about the importance of surrounding yourself with an Intimate Circle. This is comprised of friends, possibly family, who love you unconditionally and who likewise challenge you when they see you embarking on a misguided venture.
Last evening all this ‘theory’ came into practice. We call ourselves Kirsty’s Circle now. We were once one of the ME FIRST coaching groups that emerged from one of my programs. The new name is in honor of Kirsty Ann MacLeod who led us on a journey of living and dying this past summer and early fall. This is our way of honoring and remembering her.
The six remaining members of the group get together monthly. A large part of what we do is to share and to support one another. It is also the one place where we can be completely vulnerable, to take off the mask we wear with others and simply be ourselves.
They are my Board of Directors. As Jan and Alan suggested in their book, the group provides “space for accountability, a place to brainstorm, and a nonjudgmental community to share your needs“.
It was the medicine I needed and as I looked around the table, I saw that through the evening transformation was occurring. There is a deep shared sadness among us since Kirsty’s passing yet this is shifting, as it must, and as each of us finds a way to move forward. We grieve together, we laugh together.
It is not easy to be vulnerable, or at least it isn’t for me. I was taught that personal matters are personal and need not be shared. This is a limiting belief I am releasing for I know that the ability to share lifts a great weight from my shoulders and allows me to breathe again.
I am not an advocate of sharing with everyone. In the perfect circumstances with your intimate circle however, speaking your truth, taking the mask off and being vulnerable, allows you to be truly authentic.
It is my belief that we all need this format for being real with others. You get to see yourself differently, to challenge some of the beliefs that have been driving you (flawed or not) and perhaps re-frame something that is holding you back.
There were many humorous moments last evening which I am not privy to share for we have a code of conduct which I refer to as our Well of Confidentiality. In this we commit not to share with others what belongs only to us, and that is the secret which allows us to show up every month and take off the masks we wear.
Until next time…
Betty