I’ve been getting a lot out of recent work I’ve been doing in generative learning.

In really taking things at the deeper level beyond the words then applying it to life to work to greater integrity.

It’s been a very unusual and ‘counterintuitive’ way to practice but something I want to get better at.

I’ve been supporting clients around this too which is great.

I’ve read so much personal developmet stuff and it was a noble enough pursuit.

The problem is we often just get more and more ideas and information without the actual growth taking place.

Taking things like anger and jealousy as emotions to experience and somehow let go causes them to become disowned in to a shadow so then they just pop up at strange times, this can then cause us to just repeat cycles which was the original reason we read the book or did the bit of ‘personal development work’ or ‘therapy’ in the first place.

It’s important to really be an archeologist when it comes to what is occuring for us. To let it rise, recognise where it may be coming from then take steps forward.

You may need help from a mentor to do this or maybe you can figure it out yourself.

Life always involves courage and coming from a gut level to some degree.

I’d definitely lost this at points with so much personal development being more activating of the head and heart.

The actual heroes journey isn’t really covered as much in psychology literature as it could be.

Carl Jung was one person who spoke about the hero as an archetype within us and different myths being based on our own images we already have inside.

For some reason work like this is very swepped under the carpet in todays Psychology courses more in favour of Maslows hierarchy of needs then the reductionist model of Freud. The importance of these stories though to me totally explains why things like Star Wars and Lord of the Rings become such a huge cultural phenomenon or why sport really takes hold of us as they activate things in us which are already present.

The heroes journey is where life really starts and ends. This is what makes life truly worth living.

In the information age we can become clouded in just words and information, don’t get me wrong information is good but the question is are you getting the right information then able to take the action to really change.

I’m learning more that constructive change takes place in a counterintuitive place. I’ve been taught this then keep experiencing it too.

I’ve been witnessing clients learning to listen to their jealousy and anger as a valid voice to honour as a part of them, also people giving a space for the part that wants to be alone. My personal counterintuitive work recently has been acknowledging my need to find the ‘right’ answer in language and just own my full self as integrally growing and learning.

I’m doing some exciting work right now in a group about noticing when we become trapped in the ‘ho hum’ of life, things just being okay, sometimes good sometimes bad, similar patterns repeating, to keep reflecting and recognising when this is occuring then figuring where the hero is often in the counterintuitive and what is needed to grow and change into the more exciting edge of life.

I want to invite you to feel into your life and where you may be in the ‘ho hum’. What does it take to activate the hero and to create something new ?