It became official in July when my certificate came in the mail. Many of you wrote to offer congratulations, which I hugely appreciated in this time of compassionately distanced celebrations.
Some of you wrote to ask, with varying expletives, what on earth was Intentional Creativity® Coaching and what did it do, which I also hugely appreciated.
Questions, as I’ve long believed, make all the difference when it comes to learning new things. Also doing new things!
So, as the pandemic goes on and some of you are dealing with kids you didn’t expect to have home from college and parents you can’t visit and ways to make a living while supervising adventures like virtual algebra, here are a few of your questions, along with some answers.
If it’s called Intentional Creativity, do I have to be artistic? Nope! At least not any more so than we all are. (Yes, even you!) Which is to say, if you can take markers – or crayons, for that matter – and make marks on paper, you’ve got this. (Okay, larger sized, heavy paper like what you find in a 9×12 or larger mixed media sketch book is handy, but flexible are us!)
If I can’t come see you, how does this work? Great question! I have an “office” in the land called Zoom. We find a time, I send you a link, and we get together for a while and do what I like best about ICC which is unsticking stuck stuff. I’ll light the electric candle. (No real ones with Newfoundland rescue dogs wandering through, especially when one of them is blind!) Please bring your own tea and Kleenex.
Okay… what exactly is this good for? If you’ve known me a while, or been reading along, we’ve probably talked about strategies. In an ICC session, we use a strategy called Metacognitive Drawing to find new ways for you to get from where you are to where you’d rather be. Think for a minute about someone you know who might be feeling stuck about a certain issue. She uses a familiar strategy like eating a pound of p-nut M&M’s or yelling at her cat or binge watching Hallmark movies. (There’s no judgment here… just the observation that these are often not choices which actually get us to a new place.) Metacognitive Drawing, also known as thinking about thinking while moving a pen, puts us into a different relationship with our thoughts and that makes new options not only possible, but kind of obvious!
But you’re a grandmother! And a pastor! This all sounds fringy. Or new-agey. What’s up with that? You’re right. I’ve been working to help people for more than 30 years now. I’m a pastoral counselor with mastery level training in Ericksonian hypnotherapy/NLP. I know a whole lot about Enneagram personality types and where you store your past by how you move your eyes, though that gets tricky because I can’t tell my right from my left . And I am, in fact, a grandmother. Those two girls, growing up in this world, are a big part of the reason I do this, because me just knowing a lot doesn’t help them make the changes they want and now I have more ways to do that, even when I can’t be there.
Say more… Okay. I had two amazing grandmothers whom we’ll refer to as the story Gramma and the picture Granny. Once upon a time, I was a seminary student getting ready to preach for the first time in the church where I grew up. I realized, while I was preparing, that I felt much closer to the story Gramma than I did the photo Granny, though I loved them both. (Break for whole lots of right brain/left brain learning and time for a bit of perspective to sneak in.) ICC makes a place, like Rumi’s field, where the story brain and the picture brain can work together to create new possibilities. Really!
But, what if you don’t know the answer to my questions? Or my problems? No worries! I know some questions that make all the difference and how to create sacred space for the journey. YOU know what you need and ICC helps you find the answers inside you.
What are your clients saying about their experience? Ahhh… we’re getting serious! Here are some actual comments…
“The MetaCognitive thing helps my brain stop being obsessive compulsive about the problem or emotion or whatever, and allows me to see myself, and my issues, from all angles.”
“It’s different every time! I’m not good at memorizing Bible verses or mantras or whatever. The visualizing really helps. I can remember the pictures and carry them with me!”
“It helps me re-frame dilemmas about taking care of others and realize that it’s actually about taking care of me so I can be in relationship to them.”
How do I start? email me at suesvoice@gmail.com We’ll find a time to get on the phone and see if working together feels like a good match, then we’ll make a plan that starts where you are. We’ll also sort out the time and investment issues of this journey which work a bit differently than you may be used to.
What else? Another note from a client: “Participating in an IC coaching session was a new way to explore and express my feelings. It was very helpful to be able to share back & forth on Zoom. I really liked being able to draw some of the things I was feeling, instead of always having to verbalize my feelings. I’ll definitely do it again!”
And one from me… You – yes you – were born with great gifts. Gifts the world needs now. Set yourself free to live in hope by taking a chance on you and what can be if you’ll let it! I’d be honored to help.
ps… Once upon a time, I spent about an hour and a half with a brilliant wizard woman named Julie Steelman doing an impromptu ICC session. By the time we were done, I had recognized my biggest, hairiest lurking fear and realized that, while it was very deep and old, it wasn’t me now. And the fear disappeared. How do I know it’s still gone? Because I posted this today!
pss… Yes! Should you happen to know others having a challenge getting their cats to march in a parade, you’re welcome to share this 😉