Becoming Who You Are
“For my part, I have never avoided the influence of others. I would have considered it cowardice and a lack of sincerity toward myself.”
—Henri Matisse
One of the many things I repeatedly discover is how much what I see and hear affects my day. I am far from the first person who has contended that what we attend to goes a long way to making our life what it is. The influence that Matisse references has arrived in my life from hundreds of directions; books, speeches, music, movies, theatre, and copious amounts of what some say is an obsession of observing, conversing and listening to others.
I discover meaning, guidance and perspective from things said a minute ago and thousands of years ago. These learnings and counsel that I have absorbed continue to pay dividends when it comes to making a little more sense of the world. Just as importantly, they guide me to accept that some things just don't make sense and only deserve only the attention it takes to let them go for good.
The influence has become an integral frame of reference that has aided my clients thinking in ways that, without the reference sifted in, would feel emptier. Please expect more in the space about the value of carefully attending and what it creates..
In the meantime, I invite you to step back to look for the influence of things in your life.
Start with a question: What do I give my attention mostly to? And, as a result, what has that giving created in you?
