There’s not many people on this planet that I describe as truly, genuinely lovely people – the kind that are made up of nothing but goodness.
In fact, family members aside, there are only two.
TRAINTRACKJAYNE
One of them is Traintrack Jayne who lives in Gibraltar, the land of the last population of wild monkeys in Europe.
After graduating smack bang in the middle of the recession, we’d both managed to swim to safety and got ourselves onto a European Commission language exchange program based in Berlin. Only six people had made the cut; each of us from a different corner of the UK and all completely different in character.
She’d got herself a job in marketing and I was working as a translator churning out English iterations of French and German texts for companies like Audi and BMW, as well as the odd leaflet for weird and wonderful local events that I’d often end up getting free tickets to.
Her genuine desire to just be nice to everybody, no matter what, reeled me in. We bonded over our northern comedy and the fact we’re both dangerously ditzy, and it’s turned into a friendship that’s survived ten years, thousands of miles and countless disasters.
KPOD
Then there’s Kpod…the only person I dare let gatecrash my Saturday morning brunch at The Bagelry.
A little ball of loveliness who shines out an enviable, glittery gold aura of good vibes. She lights up a room without even realising it, and you can actually feel her positive energy and warmth when you’re close.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen her without a smile on her face or hear her say a bad word about anybody, at least not in the most diplomatic way possible with a counter-compliment. An all-round lovely human being.
And Kpod is the reason I’m writing today….
“Teach only love, for that is what you are.”
She’s a yoga teacher, meditation and EFT practitioner and founder of More Love Yoga.
Her career down in the capital was an exciting one; producing, programming and managing events for the London Film Festival, British Library and Twentieth Century Fox, and rubbing shoulders with all kinds of A-listers.
The mothership called and she came back to Liverpool where she set up Little Atom Productions, a creative events production company. She then co-founded the Make Space community, working with inspirational guest speakers and leading workshops and retreats for like-minded soul students.
In fact, it was attending one of the Make Space workshops in a tiny, beauty-full little art space called the Domino Gallery, that we became friends. And now, studying towards her Holistic Life Coaching Certificate with the Mind Body Food Institute, when she needed a guinea pig and I was the first to raise my hand.
L’ADVICE
I’d say one of the things friends come to me for most is life advice, which is pretty ironic given the state of my own.
When it comes to career stuff I get it; I’ve got this unshakable, indestructible self-belief. Not a single thought of doubt comes into my head.
Academic abilities aside, it’s the drive and determination that gets me anywhere and I know that absolutely nobody on this planet can take that away from me. I throw my heart and soul into everything, I’m a little bit opinionated when I need to be and I always want to scoop up as much knowledge as my brain can take, because after all Knowledge is Power.
Other advice-seekers usually come to get slapped back down to reality with some honesty.
#fatkidsyndrome
When it comes to coaching myself I’m pretty self-motivated, but the one thing I do need to get a grip of not liking the way I look. And I know that in ten, twenty, thirty years’ time I’m going to want to punch myself in the ovaries for these thoughts.
It’s partly a symptom of #fatkidsyndrome.
When I was about 12 I had what my parents called pre-teen “puppy fat”, but what most other people would call moderate obesity. I actually can’t believe I was allowed to go horse riding back then, those poor horses – no wonder Max threw me off. And then in my mid- to late-teens I shrunk to the size of my right thigh, but I still couldn’t look in the mirror.
When I was living in Aix-en-Provence at university I got acne on my cheeks. For a whole year, I barely wanted to leave my dorm but also didn’t want to miss out on socials, so I’d do my best to hide my face with a French scarf and an emo-esque hairstyles, quite a strong look as you can imagine.
Looking back, all of these things have made me a hell of a lot more compassionate than I ever would have been without them. But I do still feel like a fatkid inside.
What’s Your Calling?
Life coaching is basically a form of talking therapy, guiding clients through personal and professional improvements with guidance and empowerment. You usually work with your coach to work out what it is you want to work on, and take it from there.
Holistic life coaching considers the client as a ‘whole’ – mind, body and spirit, and encompasses all sorts of tools from mediation and breathing, to EFT and yoga.
Kpod and I sat out on a bench in the sunshine and decided that before we officially make a start, she’d give me few questions to think about my calling.
So here they are…
- Who are you?
- Can you sum yourself up in three words?
- If you we’re a brand what would your USP be?
- What would your three brand values be?
- What do people thank you for?
- Why do your three values matter so much to you?
- What do you love more than anything else?
- What could you give yourself more credit for?
- What are you resisting?
- If money was no object what would you be doing? Meditate on this and describe how this feels?
- How does that feel?
The geek inside me squealed with excitement over the fact I had homework for the first time in years.
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