“The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily lives from our souls” Pablo Picasso

I write this in September as Summer just begins to turn to Autumn.  The green on the leaves seems to have turned a slightly darker hue and it is just cold enough to start wearing a coat outside.I know that dark mornings, cold walks to the station, a desire for rich casseroles and roasts and the annual disagreement with my husband about when to turn on the central heating, are on the way. 

Last week I felt a regret that Summer was over, a weariness that the routine of the school term was returning and an overwhelming sense about the work I had to get through.

The dust of my daily life was definitely leaving my soul feeling grimy.Stephen Covey says something interesting about leaders.  It’s something along the lines of: to lead others you need to be in good shape yourself.  On courses people will ask, “How do I get people to come with us through change?”, “How do I get this person to pick up their performance?”,  “How do I have this tough conversation with my manager?”.  They often seem defeated by their circumstances and like me weary and overwhelmed by the situation.  The answer, it seems, is often in making sure that they are in good shape and giving their own souls a good clean.All of us know that on a good day, we can deal with what comes our way.  We assertively make a request of our line manager without even thinking about it; we raise a performance issue with a member of our team feeling confident that we can handle the conversation; we listen to our team’s concerns about change and work out with them how to deal with issues.  The trick is, making sure that we have more of the good days.

Stephen Covey suggests we pay attention to four key areas of well-being: emotional, spiritual, intellectual and physical.  Taking care of ourselves and paying attention to each of these areas maximises our chances of feeling confident, balanced and well resourced.So you may not go to an art exhibition to wash off the dust but you might enjoy a meal with friends, hug your husband, get to the gym, sign up for that French evening class you’ve been putting off or meditate for 10 minutes a day.  Do whatever is needed to clear the dust. For me, it was a long charity walk along the Thames this weekend that got the Autumn back into perspective.

What will you do?