If a slug can sparkle, so can you.

It’s a stretch, I know.

Hear me out though - nature doesn't lie!!!

Last year, I was contemplating a big decision. I felt called to a particular coaching course … one that was different from some of the more mainstream options I’d considered. I talked it over with people. They asked logical, fair questions.

Have you researched all the options? What’s the ROI? How will you find/create the time? I considered these things. In fact, they were well documented in my head/heart chart. The midnight registration deadline was looming and at 11:50 PM, I took the plunge. I signed up. I started freaking out a little ...

Head: "Are you sure? We don’t know exactly how this will go. What to expect."

Heart: "Do you trust me? Can you feel it?"

Sitting on my back porch, a wave of emotions took over. We were in for a ride.

Just then, a strange sensation slid across my bare foot.

A gooey "nasty" slug. What? Eww … how????

Now I don’t know about you, but I’ve lived my whole life knowing (and caring) very little about slugs. I’ve seen them. Dismissed them. And moved on.

But call me crazy, this particular slug felt important. A messenger of sorts.

I took to google.

Slug facts 101:

• Slugs have been around since the dinosaurs. Evolution XL!
• Deceivingly, they have a solid, sturdy shell underneath a soft body.
• The fastest slug on record (via the World Snail Racing Championships) traveled 0.06 miles per hour. Yes, it’s a thing. And a boost of confidence for this post. Stranger things exist in the world!
• And my personal favorite, slugs leave a trail of slippery sparkle wherever they go. Without the sparkle, they literally can’t move. They’d be stuck in one position forever. They would die. Sparkle = existence.

Ok, little dude. You’re cooler than I thought. Touché. Now get off my foot!

I don’t wish slippery animals would come crawling across your body any time soon, however I do wish this: I wish we’d take a page out of the slug book.

Transformation. The value of strength and softness together.

I wish we’d come to appreciate that sometimes, 0.06 mph is fast enough. That 0.06 mph still gets us somewhere.

And more than anything, I wish we’d come to believe that if a slug can purposefully sparkle, so can we. So should we.

The coaching class I took was just that.

Six months of tools and resources dedicated to helping people (and teams) find and lean into their unique value. Lean into their reason for being.

Six months of beautiful, beautiful connection.

Our lives are not fully left to chance. We are evolving whether we like it or not.

So, if we’re still here - if you’re still reading a LinkedIn blog about slugs (I adore you for that, btw!) - what do we have to lose?

Why not sparkle like we’re meant to? Why not move forward? Even if it’s inch by inch. At least we’d be doing what we came here to do.

We are worthy of the journey and the sparkle - always. May we never give up on that. And if you ever want to hear more random musings … or talk wild, daring purpose, let's chat! It’s an honor (and a journey) to remember and return to who we really are. Beyond the labels, beyond the expectations, beyond the layers … sparkle on, my beautiful friends.

Happy #EarthDay2024. Get out there. Find some magic in the mundane.