#authenticleardership

[artistsintheclassroom8]

In The Midsts Of ____, Was This. Perfect. Orange. Flower.

June 2017. San Diego, CA

I've been back and forth between SF & SD quite a bit lately, and in circumstances | situations | environments that are putting my ability to stay centered, and / or quickly return to center, to the test. I've been thinking too, of what leadership is. What it looks like. What it feels like. What it means. And how it differs in ones' personal life vs. ones' professional life vs. one's artistic life vs. one's any-other-kind-of-life... (another post to follow, probably, eventually, on how all these things are actually one, from my perspective).

So I was sitting out on the porch, eating my breakfast - with all kinds of thoughts swirling through my head, and many, many contradictory emotions moving through my body - when I glanced over and saw this 

Perfect. 

Orange. 

Flower.

It was like in the midsts of a mental & emotional hurricane, I somehow found the eye, or the eye found me; Just for a second, all of my focus was on that flower. And then I was able to hold it. And then hold it for a little longer. And a little longer after that... And then a little longer still..... 

And I thought this a revelation, considering my circumstance and state of mind at the time; As short as it was, and then as sustained as it became, I thought "That's it!" THAT'S IT!

The reason this moment was so beautiful for me was because I realized that in pure focus (which we either find, or finds us, or is cultivated, or is some combination of all three, or, I'm not even sure...) there's no room for anything else. There's no room for judgement, no room for mind wandering, no room for hemming & hawing, there isn't even room for emotion or sentimentality. It just, as my Dad sometimes puts it. 

Is. 

What it is. 

It's laser-like focus. Jolting us into the here & now.

I was happy to have experienced that beautiful, clear, noticing, moment: That perfect orange flower, out on the porch: Truly & deeply.

Maybe that's what leadership is to me right now; In the midsts of ____(fill in the blank with anything)____ , being able to see, hold, and appreciate. 

The 

Prefect. 

Orange. 

Flower.