Yesterday's client had a big chunk of boxes sitting in the middle of his living room. They were imposing. Their energy was, "Hey, who you lookin' at? This is none of your business going on here. I suggest you look the other way, if you know what's good for you." Of course I was intrigued. I'm very curious when I'm on the job. I want to know what's in the boxes.
My client told me that he'd been rudely fired four months previously. The boxes were the contents of his office. He said his employers weren't kind about it, and neither was his response. It was a bad breakup. This was a concentrated negative emotional feeling stacked up on his living room floor. If he put his attention on the pile he felt angry and sad, so he avoided putting his attention on the pile.
I suggested we jump right into it. He started talking about other things. This often happens on the job. When too much feeling shows up, the client shuts off and goes in a different direction. I could see it in his face, it was too much for him. I know, I've been fired from a number of jobs. It doesn't feel good. I remember once going in to see next weeks work schedule for my waiting tables job and seeing that my name wasn't on the schedule. I asked the supervisor. He said, "Oh, that's interesting." Owww.
I said to my client, "Getting fired hurt you, and looking at this feels like you are poking the bruise. But its constant presence is hurting you much more. You look so sad and dejected. It's hard to live with that feeling in your home. This is supposed to be the place you recover from the hurts you got out there. Let's start taking a look and see what we can let go of."
I started going through the boxes. Most of it was paper. I handed him one sheet at a time. At first he was not into it. But then the fog of the pain began to recede and he became discerning. He started making quick decisions. He started to look stronger. We went from one box to the next.
I'm enthusiastic when I start to work because I know the clients are stuck in the inertia of the clutter situation. Clutter makes things thick and foggy. It's hard to get inspired. But then at some point, the client kicks in. I see their eye headlights turn on.
On a different note, I decided lately to include more of my own experiences plus some humor in my blogs. For some reason, the earlier posts were more matter of fact. In some ways I felt like a scientist describing what I saw under the microscope. I enjoyed writing them, and I felt they conveyed a strong insightful impact. But then lately they've been shifting. I hope you're liking the different approach. I come from many years of expressing myself through stand-up comedy. If you'd like to take a look at my philosophical humor blog, you can get there through http://betterlatethandead.blogspot.com/