Staff Meeting and Honoring Fear

 


We had our first “staff” meeting during the month of June and it went really well with the exception of two of our people unable to attend. We held our meeting equine-learning style (which is way more interesting than any other staff meeting I have attended). My plan was to do the meeting as a group and obviously the horses were a part of that. I thought that I would be a participant and a therapist stepping in and out of the role. It can get a little tricky to do this but it's totally possible. Anyway, that was the plan, but one of the many things I have learned with equine therapy is that things usually never go according to plan. My team ended up being the therapist and I was more like the participant. However, as a team we all had our roles as a group. In this “staff meeting” I was able to see what I had been feeling but avoided saying. It is fear. I realized I am afraid of a lot of things, especially starting a business. With the support of my team and the interactions of the horses, I was able to bring awareness to that fear, gently work through some of it, and left with a feeling of it being okay to be afraid and my only job was to take one small step at a time. 

In our society fear has been looked down upon, we tend to believe those who show fear must be weak or insecure. We assume that if people know we are afraid they will not trust that they can count on us if we admit to being afraid. I have a tendency to take personal responsibility for other people seeing my fear and then taking on the feeling of fear themselves. After all, aren't I the one who is supposed to know everything and fear nothing?  

The truth is, without fear we would have no courage. It takes a significant amount of courage to face a fear, let alone walk through it. And, we would never achieve courage if we hadn’t let ourselves be afraid and do it anyway. When you decide to go ahead, face the fear, see it for what it is, without shame and judgement, you will find that there are supports all around you, ready and willing to walk beside you and help where they can. 

So our staff meeting ended with a great recommendation from our horses, “even though there is a great big pasture out there, it's okay to start in the closest and smallest part with support by your side.” And after all that, we enjoyed a nacho bar and good conversations. 

Despite the fears, I am looking forward to being able to provide equine assisted services, spiritual mentoring, and holding the sacred space for all of you here at Three Acres. 

Until next time and one final thought… 

June 20th marked the first day of summer in the northern hemisphere. The meaning/metaphor of the first day of summer is to transition from action to nourishment, which is just what the sun does for us on these longer summer nights. So to honor just that, I will sign off for now, and continue to nourish what we have started here at Three Acres, and again I look forward to serving our community.

Peace to you and yours,
Keri

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