‘If music be the food of love, play on’
(Twelfth Night – Act 1, Scene 1)
It’s February. Already. Where did the first month of the year go? It seemed to charge out of the celebration starting blocks as if it could not get away from 2021 fast enough. Then bumped and scraped along at high speed, sending dust and mud flying with a final skid around the corner like a demented racing rally car.
Here we are in the month of love. A month of celebration in more ways than one.
As you read this Chantal’s daughter will be about to, or already has, tied the knot to her longtime love on the same day that Shape of Emotion turns four! The 3rd of February 2022, is abundant with good mojo, filled with warm embraces, smiles and tears and plump with upbeat cheer. A magnificent way to enter the month traditionally known as the month of love.
What is love but an emotion imbued with positive feelings of warmth, closeness, care, and belonging? Whether romantic or companionate, loving someone else, or others, makes us feel good.
A celebration of two
On this auspicious week we celebrate the coming together of two sets of people at different times in their life journey. One set are young star-crossed lovers who found each other at high school and started officially dating on the 3rd February 2007. Now, after being together for half their young lives, they are honouring their relationship on this special anniversary, in a ceremony witnessed by the people they love.
Their journey to this place has been emotion filled, as most relationships are. The build up to the big event has, at times, been overwhelming. The bubbling excitement, the waves of sadness, the confusion and frustration. A maelstrom of conflicting, swirling feelings that, if not allowed to be expressed, can burst forth in an alarming surge.
The other set of people came together around a desire to make the world a better place. One was focused on healing, the other on growth and development. Together, approximately 4 years and 10 months ago they embarked on trying to solve a problem. A problem of trauma and the scale of mental health challenges in the under-resourced school system. The result was Shape of Emotion launched in a workshop to a group of peers on the 3rd February 2018.
The journey to this place has also been emotion-filled. It has been both a personal emotional expedition as well as a passage of discovery about this huge and often discounted subject of emotions, emotional wellbeing and emotion regulation.
From humble beginnings to the world!
The work has expanded far wider than we ever imagined. From its humble beginnings where neither of us were sure if it would even work with anyone, (yes, in the beginning we tentatively held our breath each time we used it, hopeful that it would work!), it has now spread across the globe.
Shape of Emotion has positively impacted thousands of people from all walks of life on all continents except Antarctica. These people include both young and old, male and female, she / her, he / him and they / them.
They come from a variety of cultures as well as all walks of life like high performance sporting professionals, corporate and business leaders, teachers, nurses, scholars, students, mothers, fathers, grandparents, security guards, gardeners, waiters and waitresses.
In short, Shape of Emotion has shown that it is a tool for the times, enabling literally anyone the freedom from difficult, stuck negative emotions that can overwhelm, discourage and get in the way of living a life of purpose, meaning and fulfillment.
I am because I feel
We have a 5th Place principle that says:
I am because I feel. Because I feel, I remember, because I remember, I have a history, because I have a history, I have an identity. I am because I feel.
We would not be human beings if we did not feel emotion. And yet, these feelings we live with, hide from, push away are so misunderstood. But for now let’s keep our eyes on the emotion that we are happy to embrace. The one that binds us, that links us in our relationships with each other: Love. A celebration of love for our young couple, our young business, and all of us and you in the 5th Place community.
If music is the food of love, play on, maestro, play on, and for the moment, let’s enjoy the party.
