Category: Sprouts

Emily Tangled
So last week, I wrote about Max being tangled up in the laundry room.
This week, you’d find me tangled up. With one, two, three, four wires sticking out of me.
I am ok. I’m at Maine Medical Center in Portland. And I’m getting tremendous care. I came to Maine for an extended visit with my parents. Which I hadn’t had since the 1990’s. My hope was to go over photo albums and scan them and get the family stories. My brain had other plans.
On Sunday (4/16), a blood vessel burst in my brain. And I had my first experience in a LifeFlight plane. Apparently, I had brain surgery. So now I am super smart. Just call me Frankenstein. There are, of course, things one can do to avoid a stroke. Even with the best habits, there’s no promise. So as I sit here, tangled in my wires, I’m working to peacefully and kindly let my family and my nurses and doctors help me recover.
Sometimes, trust is just the beginning. It is an outrageous gift to be kind to healthcare workers and to see them as people. And isn’t that the kind of seed we want to plant in the world? Trusting and loving kindness. Especially to those who are working with us when we are most vulnerable. Hat tip to my team at Maine Medical Center. And my family.
P.S. Emily dictated this word-for-word from her hospital room in the ICU. It was transcribed by me, her adoring husband. If you’d like updates, I’m keeping an online journal “Emily’s Brainy Adventure“ at https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/emilyjpitman
P.P.S. Feel free to reply to this. But please know Emily won’t see it for a while. She’ll be here in the ICU for two to three weeks and we’re keeping the computer away so she can heal rather than getting over stimulated. If you’d like, you can reach me at marc@concordleadershipgroup.com. Just know my replies may be delayed as I am focused on her right now.
May 20, 2023
Max Tangled
Last week I stood in our kitchen and heard the washing machine banging. As I sipped my coffee, I observed the responsible thing to do would be to trudge upstairs, interrupt the cycle, and re-balance the clothes.
Then I realized that I hadn’t started a load of laundry.
What could possibly be making all that noise?!
I found the laundry room door shut tight at the top of the stairs with Sybil pacing nervously. An inexplicable metallic banging came from the other side of the door. I yanked open the door. Max was in the middle of a tangled laundry basket AND step stool. At first glance I thought he might have broken his rear leg. I fell to his side and tried to comfort, while I examined the tangle he had created.
Max and Sybil love to play in boxes, bins, and bags. No matter how expensive a toy might be, they would rather play with discarded and forgotten containers. And some not forgotten and discarded containers. The laundry basket in question on this particular day is a mesh pop up toy of wonder for our kittens. Max had gotten his foot tangled into the handle – it was wrapped around tightly at least five times. THEN through his panic, he forced himself between the steps of an open step stool. So now the basket was tangled in the step stool and the cat was tangled in the basket. He was NOT happy or comfortable.
I can learn something from Max’s fiasco. It seems so much easier to go with the spin and the panic when something doesn’t go my way. I don’t realize I am tangled up until I am banging the step stool against the washing machine in desperate pain trying to get disentangled.
My next sentence could be “If only Max had stopped and taken a breath” – but Max, being a seven month old kitten only stops when he hears a can of food being opened.
What are the early warning signs that you are getting tangled up? When and where do you feel pressure that something isn’t fitting quite right? I get ‘snippy’. I forget to stay hydrated. I disengage. I struggle to hear or listen.
What helps you to get release from being tangled up? I read. I nap. I sit in the sun or walk in the trees. I drink water. I create and play.
When I was able to get close enough to help Max, I had to decide which needed to be untangled first – the cat from the basket or the basket from the step stool. I chorused reassurances while I untangled and comforted him. Free from his dual enemies, Max’s leg was fine and I haven’t seen him show any interest in the laundry room since.
With kittens, we are (re)learning that trouble comes with a lot of noise… or a lack of noise.
How can we build the same attentiveness in our own lives?
Stay untangled this week!
April 14, 2023
First Quarter Review
When I saw people begin to post reflections of their first quarter last week, I was convinced they had to be partaking in a massive early April Fool’s joke. I don’t now how many times I counted January, February, March on my fingers wondering if they really equal three months.
When I finally resolved that this wasn’t a trick by the universe, I spent some time wading between jealousy and regret.
I didn’t have stuff to share about my first quarter in part because I hadn’t set any quarterly goals. Why hadn’t I done that? I couldn’t remember. I just remember thinking about setting 2023 goals and breaking them down into quarters and then weeks and then being TOTALLY AMAZING. And then it was January. And February. March….
I was talking to Marc about this whirlwind of emotions and I heard myself “What do I have to show for this first quarter?!”
And that stopped me in my tracks.
- I have assisted with three Co-Active courses. That is 67.5 hours of service and learning.
- I hit my 100 hours of certification coaching. This allows me to to take my final certification exam in May – and yes, I am going to be talking about that a LOT. It is a big deal.
- I turned 50.
- I have read sixteen books and have another ten started (this many books in progress stresses me out).
- I have gone axe throwing, gone to a play, and took a six week Improv class.
- I got trained and certified to use a Long Arm Quilt Machine and have three quilts at various stages of completion.
- I’ve done a salt water drift, had a deep tissue massage, and did no online shopping in January.
- And I launched Sprouts – the newsletter.
Apparently, I have a lot to show for the first quarter.
So the question is – do these accomplishments count if they weren’t part of a written strategic plan? Absolutely! Just like I have joy crossing off a list of chores made after their completion, I will gather this list with wonder and satisfaction.
I believe living this close to strategic plan – even when I’m not fully aware of it – is a result of the amazing coaching and training that I have received from my coach and coach peers over the last eighteen months. I tell my clients when they begin to work with me that the value of coaching is what happens between the calls – not what happens on the calls. The seeds of my first quarter have been planted and tended for a long time time. The time and money I have invested for coaching has been more than worth it. I have been living near my values and goals even though I didn’t have a grid to prove it.
Working with awareness of the quarters is a new muscle for me. Do you make plans and evaluate quarterly? What are you measuring? And most importantly, what are you celebrating?
See you next week!
April 7, 2023
Sprouts in my Life
Happy Sprouts Day!
Creating and writing for this newsletter has been such a fun challenge. Looking at the names as they show up in the newsletter database, I am so thankful for each of you choosing to hang out with me here and to support this adventure.
I wanted to give you some updates on the seeds that are being planted and growing in my life.
This past weekend, I spent five days assisting in a Co-Active Process course. The course, conducted via zoom, included people from Spain, Korea, Germany, Canada and across the US. It was a joy to support students and the leaders over these last five days.
Assisting with Co-Active is my favorite place to serve these days. I had a funny conversation with Marc and my coach when I realized that serving could be my happy place! Volunteering can (should?) be “I get to!” not “I have to…”! (That was a lot of punctuation.)
I will be traveling to Maine in a couple weeks to spend some time with my parents. It will be the first time that I have flown by myself since 2012 (?) when I went to a blogging conference in Harrisburg PA. Are there still blogging conferences?
Once I return to SC, I will take my final exam with Co-Active. I feel quite excited for this completion and have some wonderful coaching peer friends that I’ve lined up to work my coaching muscles in preparation for that day. This oral exam will be two hours long via zoom. Following this exam, I will sign up for the International Coach Federation exam where I will earn my first credential from them.
My coaching practice is OPEN and continues to grow. I’m enjoying both the coaching and the business ownership process – and learning so much! Marc and I are continuing to explore and craft ideas about how we will work together in this new season.
I’m writing a lot more these days and have more project ideas than hours in my weeks. So I’m learning to break big ideas down and to let some ideas just wait in the back of the closet for now.
On Mondays this winter, I’ve been taking an Improv class. Improv combines my values of growing and playing and connecting. I will not be taking to the stage anytime soon, but in the fall I will probably take the next course.
Finally, sewing and quilting have been the primary way that I care for my creative self. Last month, I took a course that allows me to rent a long arm quilting machine at one of our local studios. Using a longarm quilting machine adds a whole new dynamic to my fabric play.
The music that has my toes tapping this week is from the artist Pink Martini. A new friend recommended them and I have found their world music style to be a lovely companion while I work and play.
March 31, 2023
What’s growing on….
Happy Spring! Did you feel the shift from winter to spring on Monday? Did you take a moment to inhale and exhale hope for melting away cold and the pushing up of bulbs and anticipation of seeds sprouting?
Seeds arrive at their growing station from everywhere – on the wind, dropped by birds, in digested plant material, and enthusiastically purchased packets. A seed carries everything it needs to begin life within them. Seeds will come to life on purpose or by accident. Sprouts will be named Flower or Weed. And at the end of life (or a season), a plant will release of the next generation of the plant – as a seed.
Gardeners understand and create the required conditions for seed growth. An ideal amount of water is provided. A perfect chemical and textured blend of soil is prepared. Placement is chosen to meet ideal sun conditions.
Non-gardeners, like me, may take a more whimsical approach – scattering seed according to a package’s directions – anticipating some sort of musical soundtrack as the picture on the package comes to fruition on my suburban plot. (Spoiler – it never looks like the picture. And there is never a surge of music.) In gardening, I take more of a “I wonder what will happen if…” I enjoy the idea, the play, of growing things so the seeds in my care might struggle or thrive, depending more on the accidental conditions that are or are not met.
Let’s take a metaphorical leap from gardening to our selves.
Where have the seeds in our lives come from? And how have we chosen to tend them? When do we allow the space for ‘what will happen if’? How will we know if it is a weed or a flower?
It is an amazing exercise to look at the rows of your life garden. What is growing now? What used to be there? What seed or bulb are you waiting to sprout? Are there conditions that you need to tend or adjust? What is it time to harvest or move?
Some people have a super clear vision of how their garden is going to look. They have motivation and purpose in their plan. Other people may be clear on their harvest, but see a multitude of ways to plant it. And others might wander into a clearing in a forest and say ‘this looks fine”. As many possibilites and plans that are possible, there are even more ways of holding, observing, growing, and harvesting a possibility.
What harvest do you see on the horizon? How will you prepare? What would entice you to add a new seed to your life?
What seeds will you plant this spring?
Gardener or not, there is choice for all of us. What will you grow?
Oh. And what will you choose for your soundtrack?
March 24, 2023
About the Sunflower
It all began with a seed.
And now it is a sunflower. A sunflower is often associated with EJPitman. My website, scheduling account, the logo that I use (when I remember to), the Sprouts header – all feature a single Russian Mammoth sunflower.
Whenever I use this sunflower, I want to share the story of the yellow bloom – to explain that I didn’t choose it because it was trendy a few years ago or because of any symbolism in the flowers attraction to the sun. This sunflower is my sunflower. I grew it from a seed planted in a hand shoveled kidney-shaped garden bed in front of our home in Maine.
The year before this buds arrival, I had been inspired by the beautiful book Roots, Shoots, Buckets and Boots to create a Sunflower house. Realizing I enjoyed growing sunflowers and had success with it, the sunflower house was refashioned the following year to feature a full variety of sunflowers – from Dwarf Sungold to Russian Mammoth flowers. The photo I use in my materials shows the mammoth sunflower that towered over my kids (and my) heads.
That flower, that season of garden growth paralleled a life season when much around me growing slowly – kids, marriage, business, me. The relief and delight that a seed the size of my fingertip could be planted in prepared ground, watered, and a mere 7-14 days later show up as a seedling buoyed me with courage and hope to continue the ‘unseen gardening’ that was happening within my home and myself.
A sprout will always be the most exciting part of growing something from seed for me. A treasure has been buried, a mysterious process has happened in the hidden depths (one inch of soil for a sunflower), and then life wakes up and reaches and reaches until it stands certain with it’s two baby leaves and slim little stalk.
“Sprouts” will arrive every Thursday-ish.
I welcome your interaction and feedback. I talk to myself all the time. I hope that you will join that chit-chat.
March 17, 2023