It’s the little things

The Week That Was looks at welcoming our first graduates, getting traction, building bridges, celebrating you and supporting others.

The smallest celebrations

Being small and sometimes overwhelmingly busy, the smallest celebrations are great pick-us uppers. One of these was the design of our first certificate for our first graduates of the Shape of Emotion Foundation course. We squabbled a bit over the layout – landscape versus portrait; what text was to be used where, and in what colour. Where the logo needed to go, and where to put the certificate number. In the end, and thanks to Matthew’s, detail-oriented perfectionism, it looks beautiful. Not being biased or anything, but I’d do the course just to get such a beautiful certificate!

Speaking of which, a hearty congratulations to our first graduates – Morag and Boniwe!

Celebrating our first graduates, Morag & Boniwe

Speaking a foreign language

I wonder if we will continue to celebrate the small stuff as we grow. I hope so. It is these small things that make the sometimes long, exhausting days and nights of tossing and turning worth it. We have such lovely work that we are so committed to. We believe we have a gift for the world. The world just doesn’t know that right now and boy is it tiring getting the word out! Sometimes I think we speak a foreign language, for all the traction we get.

Building bridges

We spend a great deal of time and consideration on building bridges between the world as it is with its focus on analysis, cognitive prowess, and competition and our world which is all about feelings and emotions. We can see the sneers and hear the whispers about the “soft and fluffy stuff” not putting Rands on the bottom line. Some (dare I say, most?) corporate animals out there want less of the soft and fluffy and more of the automaton. AI, robotics, apps, 24 hour access, do, do, do. While the human beings that actually do the work buckle under the pressure. Minions, you know what I mean!

Principle: Heal the hole to make me whole

At 5th Place we have 12 Principles that underpin the work that we do. Each week we explore a different principle. Last week’s principle was “Heal the hole to make me whole.”

It is no coincidence that when we feel deep emotional pain we describe it as if our very flesh has been torn apart, stabbed, broken, and left with gaping holes. When we attend to our emotional holes using the Shape of Emotion tool, we can realign with the wholeness that is our natural state. “Heal the hole to make me whole.” Exploring the 5th Place principle “Heal the hole to make me whole”

You are our gift

Those bridges are meant to translate what it is we do into palatable soundbites. So when we get feedback from a fan to say that she finds it difficult to explain to others what our workshop is all about, we whoop with joy and go back to recraft our offering. People like her are a gift – a sound bite sized rosetta stone as it were.

Supporting other small startups

Although we do not have the resources to employ anyone else yet, we do invest our outsourced work to small businesses or start ups like ourselves. One way of investing in employment creation without being the employers right now. We have two young filmmakers (still studying!) who have produced one short video for us and are in the throes of producing another one. If you know the film industry it’s a bit like travelling by air – hurry up and wait. We’ve been the cause of the “wait” part for last few weeks and at last (another celebration) we got that narration completed for the latest video. Coming to your screens soon… Big smiley face!

Learn how to conquer your difficult emotions

A reminder that we still have spaces open for our Shape of Emotion Foundation course on the 29 September in Linden, Johannesburg. We really would love to see you there. For those of you who were wondering and did not click the lovely yellow “Find Out More” button, the cost is R1,500 and can be paid in three installments.

If you are in the fence about it, feedback from past participants includes things like:

“Clear, simple, useful tool to separate emotions/feelings. There are a number of tools I do use, this is undoubtedly one of the most accessible.”

“It [the process] keeps you present in the body and not stuck in the mind.”

We have another surprise in the wings (excuse the pun). Next week we will be launching another little initiative. So exciting. Watch this space! Learn how to reduce stress, relieve anxiety and conquer difficult emotions