ChoicePoints September 2004

"As long as we hide the truth of who we are, we perpetuate the illusion of who we're not."  _{Louise LeBrun}

This issue released: Wednesday September 8, 2004

Spotlight On - people, products and pronouncements
Today's Thought
Coming Attractions!
Quick Updates
Thought Waves

Spotlight On — Creativity for Living!

There was a time not so many generations ago when virtually everyone, regardless of class, income level or gender, engaged in some creative outlet:  they sang, played an instrument, painted, carved, whittled, sewed, acted, embroidered, made lace, told stories, danced, wrote poetry, stories or essays.  But as society 'evolved' and we began to professionalize entertainment and the arts, fewer and fewer people were considered creative enough to engage in those activities in any sort of public arena.

We gradually began to associate 'creativity' only with the arts and to assume that only a select few of us are born with the genes to become artistically gifted.  We now live in a society where creativity has become paradoxical:  we need and desire it as the distinction which will allow us to make the personal and professional breakthroughs we seek, yet the average person questions their ability to be creative.  Studies show that almost all children entering school score at 'genius' levels for creativity.  And yet by the time we've completed high school, only a tiny fraction maintain those scores.  The rest of us have had our creative genius educated out of us!  I recall that it was about Grade 4 when I finally let go of any illusions I carried that I was artistically gifted.  I remember painting a simple pussy willow stem that I thought was beautiful.  My recollection is that it was quite Japanese-like in it's simplicity.  And I don't recall the specific words my teacher used to denigrate my efforts, but I do recall the sensation of shutting down and acknowledging that I had no inherent talent as I put my supplies away.

For decades following that incident I had no sense of having a creative side to my nature.  I dismissed all accolades for my cooking, sewing, embroidery, decorating and speaking skills as mere flattery for things that anyone could do.  And it never dawned on me that the solutions I created for dealing with life's challenges and disasters had anything to do with creativity and the ability to live a creative life.  But slowly, slowly as I re-claimed aspects of mySelf that I had hidden or hived off in order to conform or meet other people's expectations, I began to notice the stirrings of that creativity I had shut down so many years before.  And I also began to notice all the ways in which I was living my life that were hugely creative.  I also noticed how many other people I came across who were like me:  living lives of great creativity with little or no sense of it.  And many of them, like me, longed to "be creative".

Creativity for Living,  scheduled for September 24, 25 & 26 in Ottawa, is a response to the flowering of my own artistic creativity and an invitation to anyone who has wondered if they have any creative leanings to explore what's possible.  In a fun and lively weekend experience you'll have the opportunity to explore as many artistic avenues as you wish:  there'll be paints, paper, drawing pencils, pastels, oil pastels, collage materials, journals and scrapbooking supplies available.  We'll move through a series of guided meditations designed to allow you to access your creative side, periods where you can try out any media you choose and, of course, lots of opportunities for conversation and laughter.  Woven through the entire experience will be opportunities to link the artistic creativity you're experiencing with the many ways you live your life creatively.  Based on feedback from previous participants, you can expect to leave with a sense of aliveness and an awareness of how you are always creating and shaping your life.

If now is the time for you to reconnect with your creative self, Creativity for Living is a must.  For more information, visit www.TidePoolResources.com/programs/Creativity.htm or call Gwen McCauley at 613-254-7218.  To register, send an e-mail to Creativity@WEL-Systems.com

Today's Thought

"To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong"

Joseph Chilton Pearce

Coming Attractions!

We are pleased to offer you the following seminars, workshops and programs. Each one designed to provide thought-provoking and life altering experiences for your on-going personal and professional development.

WEL-Systems Experiences: September to November

The listing above only shows the first scheduled date. For more details and the complete program schedule, see www.WEL-Systems.com/schedule.htm

Quick Updates

Awakening Body, Mind and Spirit - Toronto, Sudbury, Saint John, Ottawa

Is it time for you to awaken to a different way of life? Is it time for you to stop doing what you're doing just because it's familiar and explore what else is possible? Is it time for you to discover who you're capable of becoming - and get on with it?

This two-day program for accelerated consciousness and profound personal change is coming to you! Kick-start your journey of discovery in the company of others who are 'in the search'. Like you, they instinctively know that there's got to be more to living. Join them as you get cutting-edge information and guided experiences that will lead you to leaps in personal growth. Check our web site at www.TidePoolResources.com/programs/awaken.htm for details.

---

Huna Retreat - Oceanstone, Nova Scotia - November 5th to 7th

You're clear: it's time for you to make room for yourself. Take time to stop... breathe deeply... and relax into something that goes beyond your intellect and calls out for you to notice. Let the outside of you be pampered and taken care of; and let the inside of you awaken to something powerful and ever-present... nestled into the very cells of your Being. In the good company of a small group of curious souls, your sense of adventure will take you to places that you've long known existed and yet - until now - have been unable to engage.

Space is limited and we only have a small number of places remaining.  For more information on this rare retreat experience and to register, visit: www.TidePoolResources.com/poster/HunaRetreat11.htm

Aloha! We'll look forward to being with you!

---

WEL-Systems Conference in May 2005

We're delighted to confirm that our colleague and friend Dr Bruce Lipton will be sharing a platform with Louise in May 2005 at the Valhalla Inn in Toronto. You can expect to have your thinking challenged, your edges pressed and your voice heard as we explore how Spirit and Science come together to create and manifest the magnificence of our lives.

Let us know if you'd like to reserve your place now! Just send an email to
Conference@WEL-Systems.com and we'll be sure to add you to our participant list.

Watch for more details in the coming weeks and months!

---

Evolving Through Practice …and Practice Evolving

Graduates of our certification programs have expressed a need for a forum where they can continue to work with The CODE Model™ and explore its rich, complex implications for their lives. Evolving through Practice offers just that opportunity.

In four half-day sessions you will grow your comfort level in working with The CODE Model. Each 3-hr session is a facilitated open forum conversation using The CODE Model to explore issues that are surfacing for you as you engage your life or work with your clients, colleagues and family. It is extremely useful to support you in exploring the many ways to apply The CODE Model in your life. Emphasis is placed on growing your awareness of your own state while actively engaging with others. We also explore and practice working at the Autopoietic end of the continuum. Following the open forum format, you set the agenda for the unfolding of each session!

Evolving Through Practice is facilitated by Gwen McCauley who uses The CODE Model extensively in her coaching and consulting practice. Gwen has developed a deep and rich appreciation for the power of this model and excels at helping people develop their own unique way to realize its potential. A maximum of 6 participants is accepted into this series so that there is plenty of time for exploration and working with one another. Sessions are scheduled for Thursday evenings from 6:30 - 9:30 at the Program Centre in Kanata. Dates for this series are: September 16, 23, 30 and October 7. Cost is $495, plus GST. Take your ability to work with The CODE Model to the next level. For more information, call Gwen at 254-7218. The teleclass version of Evolving Through Practice is already sold out.

---

WEL-Systems Change Agent Certification

Whether your job requires that you introduce and manage new change initiatives or you are the person everyone in the office comes to for advice and guidance when the world is in flux, the up-coming WEL-Systems Change Agent certification modules will allow you to move through the change conversation with improved grace and elegance. You'll be able to help yourself and those around you to continue to produce even results when little, if anything, remains stable. And you'll be better able to help people discover the positives in situations that are forever changing.

Created with the demands of today's busy workplace in mind, you can register for the full certification or take only those modules that will make a difference for you. In only 4 days you can become a certified WEL-Systems Change Agent and begin to reap the benefits of initiating or managing change in your workplace. The core Power of One module is scheduled for September 15 & 16. The optional 1-day modules from which you select any two that are of interest or relevance to your specific workplace are:

	Taking Care of Business in Changing Times	September 30th
	Communicating with Intention	October 5th
	Connecting with Confidence	October 12th
	From Survival to Thrival	October 14th
	Your Self Directed Career	October 15th

As a certified WEL-Systems Change Agent you'll not only be a powerful force for change in your organization but you'll be eligible to deliver WEL-Systems based change modules into your organization. For more information, visit www.ProGenerations.com/programs/CA.htm.

New Articles and more...

In Edition 19 - September 2004 issue of Body, Mind Spirit e-zine, www.saskworld.com/bodymindspirit, look for two new articles:

Finding Ourselves in the Dark by Louise LeBrun

It's Not About the Tumor - My Journey to Wellness by Jean Brazeau, a WEL-Systems Master Facilitator and candidate for Catalyst for Change.

In the August 2004 • Volume IV Issue XII of SpiritCrossing, www.SpiritCrossing.com, When the Horse Dies, Get Off... and Stop Dragging It Around! was the Featured Book of the Month

Remember to share with your friends. You never know when you'll profoundly touch someone's life.

Thought Waves

The Dream

I had a curious dream last night. I dreamed that two ‘realities’ had become overlapped and the participants of the two ‘realities’ were aware of this overlap; in other words, their worlds co-mingled but everyone was aware of the distinctions between the two. In my reality there were a number of us who knew one another very well and who were highly aware of the state of aliveness and connectedness with which we lived. Life felt vibrant, fulfilling and comfortable. In the other reality there were a number of people who were awake and alive, but whose ‘aliveness’ was only accessible to themselves: they lived in their reality wrapped in a clear plastic shield which meant that they weren’t able to touch or be touched by the other people in their reality. Not that this seemed to make much difference because the many other people in their reality were all either in a deep sleep or in a coma-like state.

The people wrapped in plastic somehow let it be known that since they couldn’t connect with all these comatose folks they needed us to intervene. So we became a team of euthanizers, calmly and serenely putting these people out of their misery while the people wrapped in plastic watched and provided moral support.

When I awoke I was surprised to notice a complete lack of agitation, disgust or other heightened response to having been involved in an activity which would have felt so offensive in my waking approach to life.

As I’ve reflected on the metaphors involved in this dream I’ve become curious about several things:

• Were the people wrapped in plastic really awake or were they merely the dreams of being awake by the people still asleep/comatose?
• If indeed the people wrapped in plastic were awake, did it make any difference because their awakeness was limited to themselves and didn’t connect with anyone else?
• What is the difference between living life in a coma and being one of the living-dead?
• How often do we convince ourselves that we are alive and awake only to continue to rely on others to engage the really tough stuff on our behalf?
• Even when we are apparently fully alive and awake are there still parts of us that are still groggy enough that we do the bidding of other, less awake, folks in order to support and help, when we wouldn’t consider doing those things were we totally awake?

I’m still not certain what to make of this dream yet I have the feeling that it is somehow extremely important for me to pay attention to. I know that I will carry it with me into the up-coming days and weeks, allowing my body to engage it for insights and that those physiological ‘musings’ may well become the platform upon which a whole new level of connection to my unfolding Self is created.

Gwen McCauley

Gwen is a founding partner of the WEL-Systems® Institute, and is its Executive Director. She works both with other coaches and with individuals on diverse topics such as career transition, change management, leadership and personal development. A keen traveler, Gwen brings her irrepressible joy of living to all she does: cooking, gardening, leading programs, collecting art, camping, writing, getting lost exploring country roads. To her delight, Gwen has recently discovered the joy of painting.

The WEL-Systems® Institute
260 Hearst Way, Suite 210
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada  K2L 3H1
Tel: (613) 254-7218
info@WEL-Systems.com