She responded, "It has to be the right shade of white. And, it will make your house pop with all the green." After 16 years, it was time to change the exterior of our home. I spent 2 weeks hesitant with the decision of white shutters and trim until the painter said he would coat only two shutters so I could see the idea more clearly.
I respect others' expertise. That's why I hired a professional designer. Since I knew the color had to harmonize with the new roof shingles, I didn't trust myself to make such a huge, expensive and lasting decision.
Both my husband and I really wanted a fresh update. We wanted the exterior of our home to more fully reflect how we feel about the beauty of life. We both felt our home just "sat there" lacking vibrancy and sparkle. We wanted a big change.
And, that's the line of work I am in.
People come to me because they want to change. They want something to be different. Maybe, it's less pain or more power. Perhaps, it's vitality or ease. For some, it's about feeling connected. For new students, it can be challenging to see the path. My work is to help them feel their way with greater sensitivity. And sometimes, they just can't see it.
So, we paint a smaller picture - and they begin to feel different - often not even noticing the difference at first. As an example, a male student recently told me that his calves no longer felt like they were constantly contracted. He said he couldn't remember the exact moment of the release, but recognized one day that it had been some time since he had felt the gripping in his lower legs. Meanwhile, I have the vantage point of being on the outside and see the student from all angles, I can see the changes, and they are dramatic! What I saw long before he felt was that he was using his whole foot and rolling through his feet and ankles when walking. His gait had changed.
Any movement therapist will tell you, you can't change the walking pattern while walking. The new pattern gets layered on in smaller, more fundamental movements that we break down and give to students as homework. Just a few brush strokes - so they can begin to sense the difference.
As I pour through nearly a decade of notebooks that I keep on my private students, I marvel at the changes that they have made. The before and after is striking. The work we do is fundamental combined with depth of understanding and progressive sequencing.As I learned this past week with my home, sometimes we just have to trust that "plain old white" or really, "the right shade of white" provides dramatic results. The before and after picture says it all.
