A Roadmap for Change

I’m passionate about creating custom work and teaching glass techniques to people of all ages. I’m also fascinated by the ways in which creative work can help people grow and change. I’ve been able to explore that relationship through Living, Life in the Meantime™ (LLM, patent pending #15163118), a unique Arts-based Coaching retreat I offer at The Glass Room™. 

LLM grew out of a profoundly special place for me, and is the byproduct of my own professional and personal crossroads that found me struggling with how to live my own life “in the meantime.”

For many years, I worked in an environment marked by continuous and rapid change. My colleagues and I were always in a state of flux, which affected us professionally and personally. But we rarely had time to focus on or process the deeply personal effect of this constant fluctuation. And to make matters worse, I was in charge of championing change and bringing staff along the change curve.

Fatigued and frustrated, I knew something (else!) had to change for me. Plowing through business as usual and pretending I was okay worked until it didn’t. I was clearly not okay. I could no longer continue faking my way through the funk, but I did not know how to take the first step. I felt confused and paralyzed by my experience and unsure of how I could exert any control over my situation. Given the circumstances, I was getting by, and doing the best I could with what I had to work with, but simply getting by was not enough for me.

Years later, I was happy to read that my uncertainty in making a big change was far from unique and that my mind was correctly guarding against the hardest part of making a change: getting started. As author and business journalist Paul Brown explains,

...In the question and answer session after my speech... Someone is sure to raise their hand and say: ‘What do you think is the most difficult thing about starting something new.’ People always expect me to say ‘getting buy in’ or ‘obtaining financing’ or…’overcoming obstacles.’ They are all worthy concerns, but I don’t think any of them are the biggest problem. Getting started is.

Ultimately, I was able to start something new because experiencing professional change so rapidly filled my mind and my body with a sense of urgency. My drive to analyze how people navigate change in the midst of chaos filled me with questions: Why do we react to change the way we do? What motivates us to take action? How do we decide the right time to take action before action is taken for us?

These questions are at the heart of LLM, which I developed during my graduate work in organizational change management at The New School (Milano). LLM is a four-step model that helps people understand the unique ways they move through change and the opportunities they have to develop new skills to navigate transitions. It brings people through the process of building a lead came glass art window while focusing on identifying a challenge, de-constructing patterns of behavior, and rebuilding and reinforcing new possibilities.

In life, change happens so quickly and often without warning. We don’t always have enough time to stand back and take stock of our situation. And even if we have time, we may not have the right tools to keep ourselves calm, focused and centered in the midst of change. That’s where LLM comes in.

LLM is not psychotherapy; it helps people create individualized maps for navigating personal and professional change. During LLM, people work through an unfamiliar experience - building a lead came glass art piece - while processing the feelings and reactions that surface from doing something new.

Trying something new can be daunting, in fact, “studies suggest we fear an unknown outcome more than we do a known bad one.” But if we can push through the fear of the unknown, trying something new can reap major benefits: it puts us in touch with our own courage, it opens up possibilities, it staves off boredom, and it forces us to grow.

The maps built during LLM can help us grow for the rest of our lives. I’ve had to call upon my own map during the recent launch of The Glass Room.™ Throughout the many changes that came up along the way, I’ve been reminded of the journey I took that led me to take that first step while in the midst of relentless change.

As I stand on the brink of the new possibilities that await me, I know that I, too, have lived through the meantime and am on a path towards rebuilding and reinforcing a new future.

Come join me, and take the first step towards taking control of your personal and professional life.