Birthing New Forms

It is said that words create worlds… but what happens between the speaking of the word and the ultimate creation?

What does it take to bring authentically new forms into life?

Over the past few years, I’ve been blessed to journey with a number of my female clients on the path to new motherhood. While I’m not a mother myself, I’ve come to understand that conscious motherhood –

the decision to have children while also healing personal trauma, stepping out of intergenerational patterns of victimhood and/or harm, and seeking to re-write the story of a lineage through the process of ‘doing it differently this time’ –

asks a certain kind of presence of the women who choose it.

This type of creation invites us to become aware of the ways we hold tension in our physical bodies. To face and transform the thoughts we have historically beat ourselves up over. To study the emotions that tend to run our day-to-day experience. To write new scripts for communication, negotiation and intimacy with our co-creators. And learn to love ourselves even more than we ever have in the process.

Because, unless willfully guided, our creations naturally follow the patterns that have already been set in motion.

Sitting with one client this week, I felt both the urgency and the potency of her new embodied practice that she has chosen to put in service of both her leadership and her commitment to ending the legacy of a habit of push, tension, and doing things, and replace it with a lifestyle of patience, presence, receiving and self-love is leading her to deepen her breath, widen her perspective, and slow down. But this doesn’t mean things won’t happen fast –

In fact, these choices have expedited her trauma healing process and set a soul-level raise of octave in motion.

What does it mean to create something different? A willingness to observe and disrupt the original blueprint in favor of the vision you are holding. For example:

• A decision to relax – not as a good idea but a daily somatic practice at the level of muscles and bones.
• An experiment in carving out space and time for motherhood, even before the new life arrives.
• Choosing to move in the bedroom at the speed of trust, rather than the pace of getting things done.

The way we do anything is the way we do everything… which means that if we CHANGE the way we do something that matters, is has the power to change EVERYTHING.

Thus, these simple (but not easy) adjustments create a foundation for new live to come through with a different blueprint – in a way that’s original. Unprecedented. Intentional.

And that serves the future vision (rather than the traumatic past) of their co-creators.

(And frankly, the vision of the new life itself. Once our incoming little ones arranged to be in utero traveling to Greece for baptism at Delphi, and to be present for the making of history - witnessing Kamala’s speech at the DNC this year – to both the surprise and delight of her mother to be!)

As I continue to deepen my study of the feminine at work, I am learning new moves from these beautiful women that deeply inform the way I do business.

So, what does all of this have to do with our leadership?

Consider:

• what new forms are you and your team birthing right now?
• and what old habits are you shedding, negating or leaving behind as you do so?‍

The Future of Guts & Grace

Over the past few months, I’ve been re-birthing the Guts & Grace business and brand. This is not the first time… but it will perhaps one of the most important times.

What’s unique about the process is the level of listening, surrender and humility it has asked of me. As a driven entrepreneur with a big vision from the start, I took on mentor after mentor who were masters of their craft, striving to master the game of business.

What I’ve found is that vigor leads me to adopt both their superpowers AND their shadows in my approach to business and leadership (no surprise! When it comes to success in business, the ego wants to get there FAST… and at any cost). While I brag that this has never led me to leave my ethics behind, and celebrate the strength of connection to my true North Star, I can say that I picked up some habits along the way that I am now un-learning.

What I understand, without a shadow of a doubt, is that this learning and unlearning process is EXACTLY what I needed to go through to birth the next evolution of Guts & Grace as an organization… AND to level up as a teacher of innovation in business at this time.

You could say that the spirit of my business allowed me to make these “mistakes,” so that I could generate enough motivation to learn a new way to play the game.

I’ll be sharing more about this evolution over the next few months – inviting you to join me in the learning process as we (as a society) lean into what I believe is the requirement of this time:

the need to bring new forms to life.

For now, suffice it to say that in my experience, the learning curve is STEEP and the game is a DELIGHT to play.

Now, more than ever, we are being asked to

• translate the language of inspiration into the currency of exchange
• blueprint structures, formats and agreements that disagree with our own programming and threaten to fry our brains
• contend with questions that carry the imprint of the old paradigm and venture to answer from the new, without sounding out of touch or cliché
• learn how to speak with lawyers, accountants and even team members in a way (and at a pace) that still keeps the game in play
• and so much more I have yet to understand

Over the past two months I have seen the potential for expansion that these challenging conversations can yield. I have also seen the patience it takes, both with others and with myself, to do them well.

Sometimes, I’m called to be more transparent than I’ve ever risked before. At some stages, I realize that it’s better not to say too much. Always, I’m aware of the delicate balance of practice required to unplug from the operating system of what has been, in order to make space for truly original moves… while still blending with the lines of what’s imaginable inside of current society, so that the creation has a solid place to land.

If you are a founder or leader who is birthing new paradigm structures, I would love to keep in touch. So, stay tuned.

Soon I’ll be sharing more about our own evolution, and also extending a few specific invitations to live gatherings where we can learn from one another.

For now, take a deep breath.

Take it easy.

And set your North Star.

With Inspiration,

LeeAnn