Kim Hermanson's Blog, page 22
February 1, 2022
For change to happen, you need to create the space for it.
Spaces instigate transformation.
I went to graduate school with the desire to understand how adults learn in life and through my research it was remarkable to me how important space was for learning and social change. For example, during the civil rights movement, black churches were instrumental in creating change because they provided “free spaces” for people to meet. Black churches were places where people came together to inspire one another, plot strategy and catalyze change.
Without those free spaces, the civil rights movement might not have happened.
If you’re puzzled, confused or stuck, if there’s an area you’d like to transform, you need to create space for the change to happen.
Then see what arises in the space.
Spaces instigate transformation.
Spaces instigate transformation.
I went to graduate school with the desire to understand how adults learn in life and through my research it was remarkable to me how important space was for learning and social change. For example, during the civil rights movement, black churches were instrumental in creating change because they provided “free spaces” for people to meet. Black churches were places where people came together to inspire one another, plot strategy and catalyze change.
Without those free spaces, the civil rights movement might not have happened.
If you’re puzzled, confused or stuck, if there’s an area you’d like to transform, you need to create space for the change to happen.
Then see what arises in the space.
Life is not linear. We learn as we go.
No, you don’t need to have all your ducks in a row.
My clients often think they need to get all their ducks in a row before they launch a new project or program. But they don’t.
You can…
1. Let the situation show you what is needed.
2. Work with whatever is available.
3. Be open to the unexpected.
4. Allow what wants to emerge.
We humans think that life operates in a linear manner. We set a goal and then we achieve that goal. But life is not linear. We learn as we go.
January 30, 2022
The purpose of a tree is to be fruitful, not to grow straight like a telephone pole.
The purpose of a tree is to be fruitful, not to grow straight like a telephone pole.
So too, the purpose of a human is not to be perfect.
The purpose of human life is to be fruitful.
Try new things and experiment. Human beings are made to get messy–to create, build, tear down, and build again.
Let’s all be as fruitful as possible.
Balanced people don’t change the world. Passionate people who don’t have it all together change the world.
Creativity will transform the energy of your life.
Playing the bass guitar changed my life.
I’ve always had a yearning around music that I couldn’t identify. There was something I wanted to get to, but I had no idea what it was. Then one day, I picked up a bass guitar and started plunking around.
It rocked my world.
I’m not sure this means I’m meant to be in a rock and roll band. (Creativity isn’t linear.)
But creativity plugs into a juice that we weren’t plugged in to before. And then our whole life changes.
Because everything changes according to the state we’re in.
When you’re plugged in and happy, your work and relationships are likely expanding as well.
Creativity will transform the energy of your life.
Being creatively plugged in to what you love will change everything.
Images are the psyche’s preferred way of operating.
Images are the psyche’s preferred way of operating.
Whether we’re aware of it or not, our brains don’t think without images. The original and basic unit of mental activity is the image.
Images are our native language.
Clients come to me feeling blocked or stuck, but when they connect with the images that lay underneath the stuckness, everything shifts.
An image will take you deeper than your ordinary thinking. It will take you to a quiet place where a different wisdom is present.
Not knowing is the essence of creativity
Not knowing is the essence of creativity.
I once heard the celebrated filmmaker David Lynch interviewed on NPR’s Fresh Air. Host Terry Gross asked Lynch something about what he does when he makes a movie.
Lynch responded that when he makes a movie, he “doesn’t really know” what he’s doing.
This statement has always stayed with me. When the amazing David Lynch makes a movie, he doesn’t really know what he’s doing.
And yet his movies are fantastic.
Perhaps… creative brilliance requires that we “not know.”
Perhaps… not having any idea what we’re doing can work out better than we can imagine.
Perhaps… when we don’t know what we’re doing, we’re actually at our best.
Perhaps…when we don’t know what we’re doing, we’re hooked up to a greater wisdom.
Whenever we work with other humans, we’re working with the unknown.
Keeping your form when you teach, coach, facilitate, or lead.
Whenever we work with other humans, we’re working with the unknown. We can never know what’s going to be thrown at us.
What can we do in the face of the unknown?
We can keep our form.
Long-distance runners reach a point before the finish line where every cell in their body wants to collapse. But if they push through it, they eventually find a fresh pocket of energy that allows them to finish the race. As teachers, coaches, and facilitators, we need to do the same.
My friend John A. Baron, vocal communication coach, shares an incredible story about being asked to give a small workshop in Italy. When he arrived for the workshop, he discovered that what he thought would be a small informal group was actually a talk on stage to a packed auditorium of 500 people. And… the translator disappeared right before he was set to begin.
John’s story is the best I’ve heard about keeping your form in an unexpectedly stressful situation. 
Here’s the link to his article to read what happened: https://lnkd.in/g3tFEz4C
John’s story is dramatic, but this happens to all of us, in big ways and small. For example, I knew someone who was hired to teach high school math and when he showed up on the first day, there were no books or supplies. He had six classes of students that day that he needed to try to entertain until his teaching materials arrived.
YOU can walk through fire and still hold your form. Hold your form no matter what.
For more on holding your form when you teach, train, coach and facilitate, check out my book: https://lnkd.in/gTjaA5hD
Metaphor connects our human brain with spiritual dimensions.
Metaphor connects our human brain with spiritual dimensions.
When we shift from perceiving and knowing with our linear, analytical mind to a spatial, artistic way of knowing based in metaphor, we’re able to access a field of divine intelligence.
This was documented in neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor’s book, My Stroke of Insight.
But because our culture is focused solely on knowing through the analytical (left cerebral hemisphere) we have overlooked metaphor’s potent powers.
Metaphor is powerful and at the core of nearly all dramatic scientific breakthroughs or acts of genius. Celebrated scientists like Niels Bohr, Richard Feynman, and Albert Einstein relied on metaphor to help them make new discoveries.
In fact, discovering the metaphor itself is the act of genius.
That’s true in our personal lives as well.
When we can see the metaphor that’s operating under the surface, our lives change.
Change of any sort depends upon our ability to engage with metaphor. 
For more about the transformative power of metaphor, check out the self-study audio courses on my website: https://lnkd.in/gArnnnsd
