Last week, as Keivor and I were heading back to the UK on the last leg of our road trip I started to feel my usual sense of concern about going back home. I have a beautiful life here in the UK, but I’ve noticed that invariably I will connect to something much calmer and more hopeful when abroad. I also notice that when I connect to that calm and hopeful Hannah, I come up with amazing creative ideas, and don’t feel held back by my usual barriers to growth.
When I connect to calm, hopeful, creative Hannah I feel free. It’s a feeling I would like to connect to all the time.
But I actually must spend about 80% of my time at home, living and working and allowing concerns and worries to populate my mind. And I give myself 20% of my time to step into that calm, hopeful, creative mindset. When I step back and reflect on this it doesn’t make sense, especially because I know that the success of my work relies on me being connected to creativity, and for me to be connected to creativity I have to feel calm and switched off. For my business to truly succeed I have to switch things around, holiday mode has to take up a greater proportion of time.
I’ve heard many of the great artists, scientists and creators of the world talk about slowing down, having space, for the words, the images, the ideas to flow. Being ‘busy’ and ‘getting stuff done’ without making space beforehand to think creatively about what we actually want to make and how we actually want to feel leads to lots of work and no real progress.
I find myself increasingly working with clients who are making positive change in the world, entrepreneurs, researchers, writers, and it is becoming clear that when my clients step into their power it is when they slow things down, they allow space to reflect, to notice what’s coming up.
If we all gave ourselves permission to slow down, connect to calmness, hope and creativity, be it through going away, getting a coach, going for a walk in nature, sitting in silence, the world would feel the collective force of innovation that us amazing humans are capable of. And who knows, it could lead to an end in global warming, an end to poverty, an end to inequality. We could make this world a haven, and all from slowing things down…
