02 May a new hat…

I began the day firmly overwhelmed, confused, and worried, with a dash of a sinking feeling. That place where it is hard to move forward or sideways: any direction felt like a decision, and I lacked the confidence to make any decision other than to decide not to decide. Uncomfortable and stuck.

We have all been there. You realize that you don’t know what/where/how to move forward—those moments when you are confident that you are entirely out of your depth. Through an accident or perhaps a cosmic design, I learned a valuable lesson, pull back the layers. Go deeper- asking and answering, “what do I know about what ….”

Pull back the layers; it takes out the embodied feeling of immobility and places curiosity into your life. I began overwhelmed and ended up drawing a witch’s hat.

As I pulled away the layers, my fears bubbled up but so did actions and ways to manage and diminish that feeling of being stuck. I won’t bore you with the twists and turns but as you go deeper, write down words that pop up OR as I find I like to draw images – as I pulled back the layers, I found that by closing my eyes, I focus more on imagery, thus the witches hat.

The hat emerged as a symbol of power within, of mystery and possibilities, the legacy of women who were different, characterized in stories as dangerous, as women who step outside of the norms of society. Women who embraced knowledge could and can perform feats of wonder. So, as I move forward with my reading and exploration of building a research practice of rigour and structure – the witch hat is my reminder that many have walked our earth who stood outside of what is deemed ‘normal’ and pursued knowledge.

Honouring those women is to stay open and curious, trust the process, be rigorous and hold onto our truth, our passions and our hat!