Part 2 of my emailed, reintroduction series sent through my newsletter.
Grab a cuppa, you're in for another doozy :) This is about a 10 minute read.
Quick recap from last week
After years of avoiding the hard things through escapism, I finally came face to face with myself thanks to invested-in-my-success friends [or, A1s], my first real relationship, and recognizing that old keys do not open new doors. At a certain, early thirties point, how I had been showing up in life was no longer how I wanted to show up going forward. As a partner, friend, business owner, daughter, family member, and hopefully, as a parent.
Maybe you’re a little like me → burdened with perfectionist tendencies, creating lists + mindmaps as coping mechanisms, new to engaging in healthy conflict, easily irritated and thus overwhelmed, yearning for hermitude very now and then. It goes on.
With all of that on my shoulders, I found that taking a little time away with myself seasonally is often what the doctor ordered. So, I housesit for people all over in order to reconnect with me. November 2022, I was solo housesitting for a month in Austin, TX and receiving hella downloads.
TLDR: hopefully you’re [still] into long form!
This is part of a series of emails reintroducing myself to you, so you can have more than just a face behind adventuresOFcommunity. It’s about how I got here, why, what’s happening now and maybe, you’ll find bits of resonance woven with a smidgen of entertainment.
I mean, so many ideas that I was tripping over myself trying to write them down.
In the shower, waking up in the middle of the night to groggily write notes, on walks along the river, on the phone with someone. I had ideas on post its, in voice memos, in my notes app, on paper, in my journal. It was glorious chaos. Multiple workshops in their entirety came out of that single month [timestamping and all], frameworks for how I manage my ADHD level prioritization [it's a venn diagram, and yes I have a workshop on it], co curating a rereat, and most importantly, I connected with my zone of genius. Speaking, facilitating, coaching, holding space, collaborating and non linear thinking.
Why hadn’t this been so obvious before?
I built a career and business around community development, so I thought, I have to just keep on keepin on with this. This is what people know me as [and I better please everyone else but me all the time...]
Yeah well. LOL.
Experimentation
Managing, of all kinds but particularly communities, is my zone of excellence. I'm good at it and sought after for facets within it, but I don’t get in a state of flow nor am I energized or fulfilled by it.
As a test, I chose to volunteer as a coach for the next Atlas [transformational leadership program I shared in part i] cohort. And, as I thought might happen, my purpose smacked me in the face as if I'd been running directly into a clear storm door 🥴.
Holding space for the nuance, muchness, and depths of humans; coaching, speaking, and facilitating are where I thrive. These are spaces where I too can be in my own bigness, where my height, projector voice, and voluminous hair don't need to be shelved but instead, fully expressed.
As I embrace my own muchness, bigness, and exuberance, it gives and unspoken permission for others to relax into their own 'ness.' And you know what, I won’t even be humble about it anymore! Why, when the gifts we are given are meant to be honed and cultivated so that we can bestow them unto our families, communities, teams, and honestly, the world?
So, I pivoted. I am still fully ensconced in this pivot.
We abruptly moved to Denver after quitting van life, knew no one there and had no additional wheels. It was my worst nightmare. I was stuck. Building a business amidst a pivot, no escapes in sight, and having nowhere else to go but further in.
I did a little experimentation with podcasts like Community Alchemy and my current one on adventuresINtransformation, collaborations, creating content, learning about sales and marketing, rabbit holing into researching tools, taking on myriad types of clients, gaining certifications, and so much more.
Atlas helped me remember that I am more than my stories, I am more than my limitations, I am more than my output; I am exuberant, radiating energy. Everyday I am choosing to unlearn, decondition, deprogram and give myself grace as I finagle my way out of those old clothes and into the one I created for me.
Something that I repeatedly say with clients [and everyone around me, let’s face it] is that having a robust toolkit can and will get you back up and out of whatever hole of despair you’re in. It happens to all of us, at some time or another, but especially in times of transition, tension, and pivots.
Sometime after this moment [LOL], I will be creating a little PDF of the tools in my own toolkit which I recommend, but here are a few to consider so you catch my drift:
When in doubt, focus out [lend support to someone else]
Somatic practices: tapping & breathworkWhat you resist, persists. [So, lean all the way in]
Feel the feels [seriously, just sit all up in it]
REFRAME the storyAim for belonging [self driven] not acceptance [externally validated]
The sacred pause [take 3 beats, even if awkward]
I’ve recently learned a vital reframe.
As someone that holds [space, energy, emotions, etc] for others, I do not have to be it all, know it all, have it all nor have any issues whatsoever. The reframe is: people in my atmosphere will only be able to go as deep as I go with myself. We are all works in progress, perfectly imperfect, and what a noble and reverent call it is to partner with others as they make the intention to thrive as their best selves. There is no path for me that doesn’t include community, partnership, depth in communication, and vulnerable self awareness.
So, the meat of this potato?
My depth level is abyssal and if you feel the pull to live more robustly, with greater resilience, with deepened relationship, with autonomy; then I’d love to hear from you.
Until next time, here are a few stand outs that I recommend you peruse ⤵️
Until next time, Viki
Hey, I’m Viki and I a woman of many facets. The quick version is, I curate community through connection, collaboration, and creativity. I bring people together to create and connect as a community consultant, I bring people together to contribute to, and belong within a cohesive team with workshop design&facilitation, I empower women to course correct the north star of their compass, dust off their innate toolkit, and reposition their crown as a transformation coach, and I also offer somatic release through holotropic style breathwork. To find out more, start here.