Hollywood

This past weekend, I attended Michael Bernoff’s Core Strength Experience – a workshop I can highly recommend. We went through so much information and so many experiences, all I can say is WOW!

I’ve been working off and on with Michael since April of this year. Most of his work is done by teleconference, which is actually quite effective. We commit to the time, but we can attend from the comfort of our own home (or as is often the case for me, the back of the comic book store). He also records the calls so we can listen to them again. Often we can pick up more from the second (or third) time around. I like his style, so I was really looking forward to working with him in person.

During the weekend, I had the good fortune to be partnered with a man from Texas. On the first night, we were to spend some time finding our accountability partners by interviewing several people. Well, he had shared something about his background that seemed to resonate with mine, so I approached him first. And we agreed pretty quickly that we would be good for each other. We then went on to interview others, just to make sure, although he confided in me that he didn’t really want to go talk to others.

After our additional interviews, we decided to partner up. So, all weekend, he was the one I would go to with my discoveries, my breakthroughs, my tears, etc., and vice versa. It was really great having one person to share with in that way. We didn’t have the same goals. We didn’t have the same visions, and yet, we could be there for each other.

Well, at one point during the weekend, Mike talked about some of the roles we play in life, and somehow, this mild-mannered guy found his wild side, and earned himself the nickname “Hollywood” for the rest of the weekend. I really enjoyed watching his antics as he strutted his stuff. But what totally amazed me was watching how people responded to him so very differently! He became the life of the party! On Saturday night, he had eight invitations from people to come and sit with them at dinner – including our presenter! He was totally flattered and somewhat surprised by all of the attention. All he had done was to tweak his persona.

I, on the other hand, did NOT strut my stuff, although there have been times in my life when I have. I gave the weekend my all, but I didn’t feel called to be that wild thing that I know is inside of me. In fact, as I write this, I realize that I haven’t been that wild thing in quite awhile.

Perhaps it’s time I find my own inner wild starlet again and bring her out to play.