A Conversation That Stayed With Me β€οΈ
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Hi I recently connected with an old colleague I hadn't spoken to since 2007. Our conversation stayed delightfully in the present. Our paths overlapped briefly all of those years ago, and it's so far behind us now that the present felt infinitely more interesting. As we caught up, our conversation drifted toward the ways we each experience the world and how those perspectives shape our work, friendships, and family relationships. At work, she was feeling depleted and unseen, swimming in a sea of sameness as she was directed to create brand work that looked like everyone else's rather than standing out. Her ideas often fell on judgmental and dismissive ears. Over time, it started to feel like more than creative disagreement. It felt like a dismissal of her voice, her culture, and the collective community she represents. Our conversation eventually turned to her experience of living between two worlds. She has spent more than half her life in the United States while still feeling deeply connected to Venezuela, her country of origin. It wasn't about choosing one over the other, but trying to understand how both had shaped her. And as often happens, I found myself making connections to yoga philosophy. We talked about lΔ«lΔ, the yogic idea of play, not as something frivolous but as an invitation to meet life with curiosity instead of constant striving. We wondered what happens when work asks us to become more like everyone else, and how much energy it takes to keep parts of ourselves tucked away. Before long, we were reflecting on the yamas and what it means to live in alignment with our own values. We weren't trying to have a deep philosophical conversation; we were simply trying to make sense of a deeply human experience: what it means to belong to ourselves, to our histories, and to the lives we're creating now. The philosophy simply offered language for what can otherwise be difficult to articulate. I left thinking about how grateful I am for these teachings. Not because they provide answers to every difficult question, but because they continue to help me listen more carefully, ask better questions, and connect more deeply with another person's experience. To me, that's one of the quiet gifts of yoga philosophy. It doesn't ask us to become someone else. It simply helps us understand ourselves, and each other, a little more clearly. π€ It left me wondering: What stories, values, or ways of seeing the world have shaped the person you've become? If you'd like to spend a little more time with these ideas...π Ancestral Echoes Workshop β October 10 π· Every Family Carries Stories: Exploring the Echoes We Inheritβ ππ» Explore Signature Programsβ β Sarah P.S. Thank you for letting me share this story. If you'd ever like to share yours, I'd love to listen.β |