Off for a restful adventure

I spent my morning saying goodbyes. It was hard to drop the dog off. Her trip to the city was so exciting until she realized it was all a trick and she wasn't going to get to go back home. We all know what that is like, and knowing should make it harder to drop the dog off, even for a relatively short time.

Vacations are fun when you are planning them and fun when you are on them. In between can be hard. The point of a vacation is to wake up in one place and go to GED omeplac entirely different. Last year, when I finally arrived at my vacation bedroom, a bullet came through my headboard. That was entirely different than being at home, and an unsettling reminder that change can be quite disturbing.

So I spent the morning telling people I love that I love them, and touching base and finishing tasks and, of course, vacuuming the living room and imagining walking into it at the end of he trip. Leaving is like that. Even when you are just leaving for a vacation you need.

Luckily, leaving doesn't last forever. Eventually, even after you ave arrived at the airport much too early, the plane will lift off and the travels will begin. Later tonight we will drink welcoming mojitos by a lovely pool under warm skies.

And maybe you will hear more about it. Or maybe not. Vacations shouldn't be too predictable.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Yes" sets for building agreement and manipulation

I recently watched a video of a solution-focus therapist working with a client. The clip began with a number of questions and statements with which the client would agree.  In hypnosis and sales, it's known as a "yes set." If you're not familiar with the concept, it works roughly like Simon Says.  In that game, you get into a pattern of doing what "Simon says" so that you eventually do what the leader says even when s/he does not insert the magic words "Simon says." In the "yes set," you get used to saying yes until such a strong pattern of agreement exists that you agree with statements or instructions you might not otherwise give your agreement. The more times in a row you have said "yes," the greater the probability that you will say "yes" to the next statement. Yes sets can be seen in two ways. The first is that you are offering someone evidence that you are observing and accepting their experience. When every
Read more

The hypnotic contract

Under what conditions would you allow someone else to tell you what to think?   If you have watched a stage hypnotist, you have seen what looks like one person exercising remarkable control over the thoughts and actions of another. It is fascinating, in part, because we have all seen it happen in real life. Suddenly someone we know seems to be relying on someone else to do the thinking.  Even if the influence is good, it is a little frightening. The secret is that there are no magic words.  In order to lead someone into hypnosis, that person has to be willing to go there. Often the people you see on stage are more than willing. For whatever reasons, they are enthusiastic about giving up self control and allowing someone else to take charge. They know that there are limits to what can happen on stage and they are only agreeing to give up control within those limits. What you see in hypnosis is an agreement between two people. Like all agreements between human beings, it stretches as far
Read more

The fine line between observations, suggestions and commands

I have been watching Tony Robbins this week in the documentary called " I Am Not Your Guru ." You can read a nicely ambivalent review in the Financial Times here.   I think the ambivalence is built into the process, which might be surprising given the loud celebration that characterizes the Date with Destiny in the film. For those of us whose work has evolved from NLP, there are lessons to be learned from modelling the most famous and successful practitioner of NLP (Robbins has far surpassed all the founders by all measures of success). Because he does so much so well, Robbins lets us see how fine the line is between observing and suggesting. Let me explain. Robbins frames his "interventions" both with the exercises and performances we do not see in the film and with his invitations. The film opens with an intervention with a young man who says he is suicidal; it is only later that we see Robbins say he is looking for someone who is suicidal to work with. Since
Read more