Soft Landings
Headshot by Meg Lovell

Soft Landings

On expanding our worlds, taking risks and taking care.

February was a whirlwind of exploration calls and deep diving, of new ideas and relentless repetition.

I rolled into the month on the high of the ScreenSkills Leader of Tomorrow confidence training I ran at the?end of January. It was a wonderful session! Participants described it as, and I quote:?

?? Calm

?? Welcoming

?? Empowering

?? Reflective

?? Great fun

?? Very interactive

Kate is smiling and standing in front of a large screen that shows her confidence training intro slide.

Arena Moments & Taking Risks

I was also delighted to explore Brene Brown’s concept of ‘arena moments’ in CPD with the EMCC’s Bristol & Bath chapter. I loved this metaphor for a moment of vulnerability and the feeling of laying yourself bare. I’ve found this language to be so useful the last month as I had a few arena moments myself!

I’ve opened the doors to three new ways we can work together:

  • If you work with talent or in a People Team you can book my confidence training to empower creative leaders in Media & Tech to take up space by tackling imposter syndrome, boosting self-confidence and giving themselves permission to be bold
  • If you’re an individual looking for more adventure, creativity and compassion I have just the thing for you:

?? 6 weeks to crafting a personal discipline

?? a 6 month creative living redesign

I’m so excited to be working in this way, I’ve seen how transformational both of these containers can be, here’s what one client experienced over 6 weeks together:

“I was not prepared for how much progress I'd make in one session, never mind three! Each time we met I understood myself a little deeper, further building upon previous conversations, as well as having new lightbulb moments on everything from my long-term business goals to small, practical next steps.”

Soft Landings and Taking Care

I always say my business is one of my greatest creative endeavours and in February I was deep in that process of creation, experimentation, synthesis, testing and learning.?

With all expansion and risk we need to have a soft landing.?

I’ve found mine in the charming and warm world of Becky Chamber’s Wayfarer series, which starts with The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet. I’m on the second book now, A Closed and Common Orbit which is a delight. The first book follows the day to day life of a wormhole tunnelling crew as they travel long haul on a new job. There’s lots of small sweet moments, a little action, and generally a lovely time.* The Wayfarer books have granted me a cozy nook in a far away galaxy to recuperate after a series of ‘arena moments’.

I have a strong appetite for risk and I think it’s because of the care I’ve learned to take around them.?

Failure is easier to handle and see as a learning experience when we are looking at it through a wider lense. It takes away some of the sting or the ‘my world is over’ feeling, when we’re actively working to make our worlds both bigger and softer.

Other ways I’ve been making my world bigger: dance class! I finished my first term in a contemporary class here in Bristol and I loved every second of it. I missed one week and the difference to my mood was nuts - I hadn’t realised what a positive impact just one hour of dance a week was having on me. Stay tuned to see what happens when one hour becomes two? ??

A few prompts for you as we wrap up this wrap up:

?? What could you do to make your world a little bigger?

?? How could you create a soft place to land in?

See you next month ??

Kate


Ps: If you want support in exploring these deeper, you can book a discovery call for my 1:1 practice here.

Pps: if you have any book recommendations for me do share! Both fiction and nonfiction very welcome!


*I had never read ‘slice of life’ sci-fi before, I’d been more drawn to space operas (though I’ve yet to finish one...), the eccentric sci-fi in the vein of Hitchhikers, ‘contemporary’ sci-fi à la Project Hail Mary (a must read) or my personal favourite science fiction and recommendation to ALL - the Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells (start with All Systems Red). Honestly if you haven’t read these get them in your eyes as soon as physically possible. Murderbot is one of my most beloved protagonists - half organic matter, half synthetic, Murderbot was created to provide security but hacked through their protocols to have free will and all they want to do is binge watch ‘the feed’. Do you like fun? Do you like action? Do you like sardonic narrators? Then this is for you (although I strongly believe Murderbot is for everyone).?

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