In the Current

The “J” Word

In the last issue, Giving Words To Your Purpose, I shared that my own personal purpose is: to spread joy.  I wanted the same clarity of purpose for my business, so several months ago, I hired communications expert, Isabel Parlett, to help me identify and convey the core of my business more vibrantly. (1)

First, we looked to the work I’ve been doing.  I’ve coached people who love their jobs and those that detest their jobs.  I have worked with people who feel they have enough money and those that want more.  I have coached people who are stressed out about the pressures on their time and people who want something different in their lives.

While I’ve developed specialties in the areas of career restlessness, owning your time, and managing overwhelm, the fundamental common ingredient in my work is: learning to live with a greater sense of joy and abandon.  There’s that joy word again.  At first I resisted it.  I thought that it would sound intangible, nebulous, or worse — fluffy.  For this reason, I have avoided using the word “joy” in the context of my business for years.  That’s pretty funny for someone who says her own purpose is to spread joy!

It may not be what people say to themselves when they hire me, i.e., I want to have more joy in my life.  It’s usually something more specific that they want to achieve: I want more time, more money, a new job, a new relationship, a new direction.  On their way to achieving it however, this is what they experience… that satisfaction emerges not from any one particular outcome, accomplishment, or external condition, but rather from the way you are living.

How I Found The Current

Isabel and I had come face to face with the core purpose of my business and it couldn’t be denied.  Now we sought to give words to it, in the form of a new company name. We found the clues by looking back at a childhood story.  Apparently as a child, I was prone to wake up from naps by barreling down the stairs, slamming the kitchen door open, and, with furrowed brow, demanding to know why my family let me sleep so long.  Whenever I heard this story repeated over the years by my older sister, I mostly took from it that I was a cranky youngest child who didn’t want to miss out on anything.  Isabel helped me identify and honor this as a fierce desire to be in the full current of life.

There it was, my new company name: In the Current.  These days, living “in the current” isn’t just about not missing out on things.  In fact, I’ve come to love naps!  What it means to me now is boldly moving in the direction you want to go with the patience and willingness to adjust course when needed, and with the faith that you will be supported.  It is the feeling of both peace and excitement as you allow yourself to be moved and guided by the momentum of your life, saying yes to your deeply held desires and to what comes your way.

Moving Into The Current

You know you are outside the current when:

• You are settling for less than you imagined for yourself.
• Fear, worry, and pressure frequently predominate.
• You are trying to force an outcome or make it fit your idea of the right timing.

You are living in the current when:

• You feel confident about where you are going, even if you are not particularly happy with the present situation.
• Timing is often serendipitous and when it’s not you still trust a greater timing.
• Fear is present but it’s not keeping you from taking action.
• You are grateful for many things right now, even as you are on the way to making changes.

This week, notice what conditions are in place when you feel connected to the current. How do you define living in the current for yourself?

“As your faith is strengthened you will find
that there is no longer the need to have a sense of control,
that things will flow as they will, and that you will flow with them,
to your great delight and benefit.”
– Emmanuel Teney

(1) Many thanks to Isabel Parlett for helping me discover the right words to express the heart of my business.   You can visit her website here: https://isabelparlett.com/