A 'Why' statement, a pivot point, and squiggly sprint walk into a cinema...
Why I'm asking you to leap with me, and what Barbie has to do with it. No joke.
This isn’t how I expected to begin. I thought I would create this space, and more to the point I had planned, to give an introduction explaining what readers and listeners could expect to engage with here but oh no, reality and a shiny new idea have other thoughts on the matter. Bear with, it’ll be worth it I’m sure.
This is where I find the intersection between the Barbie movie and getting/receiving feedback. Yes. Really.
I concluded a learning filled day by watching the film on Tuesday night. I had started my day by joining Amazing If’s Squiggly Careers Skills Sprint. That meant I had a lot of resources to keep me company whilst I commuted about London to meet with various client colleagues. There was bound to be some kind of juxtaposition, if only for how I began and ended my day. You’ll soon learn that I love to find the thread that joins subjects, people, life together.
Anyway, back to the point. I’m in the cinema, watching it for the second time in four days which meant a chance to connect with the story again whilst knowing what would have me doubled up laughing too.
Maybe what you thought that made you who you are, it’s not really you.
When Barbie delivers the above line to Ken, she is speaking to herself as much as him, and in turn, she spoke to me. Let me tell you why.
I’ve been freelancing for almost five years, and I’ve had the fortune to work with one particular client for a lot of that time. I began working with them with a very specific role to play. I was really good at that one thing, it’s what I had been told I was good at, it was my superpower at previous jobs and it had allowed me to find freedom in freelancing; wordsmithing, storytelling, content creation, however you would like to name it.
Very quickly, I got to be part of an amazing team, and they became what Sarah and Helen at Amazing If would call ‘skill spotters’. I began to learn I had other superpowers too; community building, creating safe and energetic spaces to learn in, juggling conversation and engagement, and encouraging change for individuals and diverse groups.
Because I was providing all these useful skills to a growing business, I found myself going with the flow of what was needed immediately. Sometimes that worked in my favour, other times less so. In listening to the resources for Day One of the Skills Sprint (on feedback), one of the most positive reflections for me has been how as a team we have baked in a lot of what Sarah and Helen shared as best practices. I have had lots of feedback opportunities but for various reasons, I hadn’t reflected on what those superpowers meant to me. More to the point, it’s taken me a long time to see that changing to fit the business’ needs wasn’t allowing myself to meet my own.
Just as much as I stand by my Why statement, the moment Barbie spoke to me* I realised that helping others share their magic is secondary to the reasons why I want and need to share my own story, my own magic.
[Maybe it’s not just Barbie. It’s a culmination of working through The Artist’s Way, therapy, some very honest conversations with loved ones, grief, and wanting to live not just survive…]
So, if you’re still with me or have followed any of that very random thought process, this is what this space will be for. I’m making leaps, and I’d love to take you with me. To connect the dots and to share the power and magic of stories - from everyone who inspires me and my own.
We’ve started with Barbie and Amazing If. Strong start. Strong start indeed.