Stones Become Fishes

I have this cycle I go through whenever I have an appointment with a client.

About an hour ahead of the appointment, I start to get anxious. Well, not exactly anxious. If I am to be honest, I would say it’s more like resentment that I have this appointment at all. It’s going to interrupt my flow, pull me out of the beautiful trance of writing resumes and working on business development stuff.

In other words… I’m in the zone, baby. And I don’t want to get out!

But this new thing is pulling me in a different direction and the current is getting stronger, so, I pop open the client’s intake form and begin reading their life story.

It always draws me in.

As I learn about crucial events, goals, insecurities, and sources of real pride, the client materializes before me. These anecdotes and insights, like fishes in an aquarium, begin to come together, catch the light, and reflect a pattern back to me. What was once just a few dark shadows, minute by minute, turns into something more. The first and last name in my calendar become a person, with something to offer and obstacles to overcome.

By the time I get on the phone, I’m in. All the way in.

There is potential for this cycle to play out in other aspects of my day as well: the woman at the traffic light, the Facebook friend of a friend, the store clerk, the wrong number… all shadows waiting to shimmer.

And since I don’t have an intake form to hand them… I have to initiate in other ways if I want to begin to see the patterns.

It’s my choice: These folks can stay shadowy stones in the current, or they can become brightly colored fishes that light up the water.