Summer, gremlins and wise heads
Summer is finally here. It seems to have gone from cold to so hot in an instant. I’ve dragged summer clothes from the back of the wardrobe and just about worked out what works on a Zoom call when I’m sweltering!
It’s been another tough twelve months and in spite of the fanfare of Freedom Day, many of us are cautious, working out our own sense of risk and making choices to protect ourselves and our loved ones. My heart goes out to the parents who have had the constant juggling act of home schooling, back to school, isolating etc. Along with many, my neighbour has her fingers crossed that her child gets through her last week at primary school with all its rituals and treats without a ping.
And some of us have managed to book breaks away. We’re dragging out the old trailer tent to go camping. It’s served our family well and had a few repairs over the years but this year and last, we’ve been grateful for our old faithful!
Talking of old faithfuls I’ve been aware recently of just how much I rely on tried and tested ways of thinking and behaving. My insight has been triggered by some training I’m undertaking for myself, exploring some of the ways internal “gremlins” sit on my shoulders nagging, judging and criticising in unhelpful and limiting ways. Maybe you share a few of them.
Awareness of them has jolted me into one of those uncomfortable periods of self-awareness and reflection. Learning’s like that. Whether we’re developing personally or acquiring a new skill, one minute, we’re happily jogging along in our contented bubble and the next we are in that conscious incompetence place, wondering “How can this be so hard?” Remember learning to drive? All those awful clunky gear changes and wondering if you will ever get the hang of 'mirror, signal, left'?
I’m comforting myself with the thought that I’ve always had an alternative internal voice, a wise head, one that can calmly and creatively counter the gremlins and guides me well. We all have one. Learning’s like that too. Just when we despair of learning the new thing, we emerge into a place of unconscious competence, our gremlins become less harsh and the wise voice gets more air time. The trick is getting the new ways of thinking and new ways of behaving firmly entrenched into the muscle memory so that they come naturally and with ease.
Enjoy your Summer whatever you are doing and if, like me, you’re learning something new, enjoy and good luck!