The Woman in Front of the Room
By Leslie Sann
And you? When will you begin that long journey into yourself?
~ Rumi
I did some traveling in December. On my return trip, I sat next to a young woman reading a book I had seen on a shelf at the airport. When I asked her about it, she said she was reading it for her dissertation paper.
I had just opened my laptop to work on my doctoral paper. I shared that information with her, and we began talking about the experience of writing.
I listened to her share how writing the paper was daunting and that not until it was completed, turned in and approved would she have a sense of accomplishment. I have a different point of view about the process. Life is a journey, not an event; thus, the paper’s writing contributes to my life as much, if not more, than the completion.
In life, we set goals not so much for the attainment, though that is part of it. We challenge ourselves to attain our dreams to become more than we are now.
In 1986 I participated in a transformational seminar experience that shifted me to a life-changing place. There was a moment during the training when I looked at the two women who were facilitating, and I inwardly heard myself say, one day, that will be me up there. I desired to give back what I had been given. I yearned to become someone who could touch people’s lives so they could wake up to who they are—alive in joy, freedom, expression, and loving. The ability to do so was a way I could say thank you for the gift of my life that was now beginning to blossom.
At that moment, I was incapable of doing any such thing. The me I was at that moment was a far cry from someone who could sit in the front of the room and hold space and consciousness at the required level. Yet, my destiny had been revealed. It was a journey to travel from where I was sitting when that inner voice spoke to become the woman in front of the room.
That vision of what was possible set me on course for the evolution of my life. It was an undertaking I joyfully embarked upon. That goal brought me into action, and I began the journey and set out on the adventure. Writing my doctoral paper is another leg of that journey—the ever-expanding evolution of the expression of my life.
I shared with my seatmate the essence of this story as well as some tricks I’ve used for writing that keep me motivated and in action. The key is action. Action translates our dreams into reality. Saying I’m writing my paper without writing it is just saying I’m writing it. Writing my paper is the doing—it is putting my seat on the seat of my chair and doing what is required.
She was fascinated by my point of view. In all the years she’s been in school, and in conversations with her advisor, she has not been given that perspective to engage with what she’s doing. The next thing I know, she’s pulling up my website on her phone to purchase my books.
Maybe she’ll join my next Lift Up class.
Perhaps you will? We begin Thursday, January 24 and work together to inspire action toward creating a life you love. The material is powerful, transformational, and easy to access. Oh, and we have fun.
Let’s all have more fun.
Laughter takes the edge off the challenges of life.
Join me in 2023
in lifting into joy, peace,
and creativity.
Happy-Joyous-Blessed-New-Year!
