Yesterday I visited my regular massage therapist.  Since I met her in a religious community, it probably isn’t odd that we began to talk about adjusting our spiritual or religious practices as we age.  I am seminary educated and believed that I would, at one point in my past, be ordained in a liberal protestant denomination.  I decided against the path of ordination but not against a quest to understand and find a spiritual path of integrity for myself.

Part of what I have found to work for me are the positive processes for change.  Judgment, evaluation, sarcastic fault-finding and fixing haven’t worked for me for many years.  I long to feel connected to a positive “power greater than myself” as 12 Steppers say.  I have not found enough of what I’m looking for.  I have glimpses of it.  I feel awe, particularly at dusk, often fills me with wonder at the beauty and bounty of this world.  Any ocean warm or cold calms my internal fires of anxiety.  The sounds of moving water–creeks, waterfalls, fountains, even the little electronic ones in doctor’s offices–soothe me in a way that is spiritual.

As I think about the changes I want to make, I know that one is to find a spiritual practice and a belief or beliefs that have integrity for me and that feed my soul.  What have you found that works for you?

Wow! Landing in Orlando in the middle of a storm Saturday night, September 15 should have been the first indicator that this was going to be an explosive week! Staying at a DisneyWorld Hotel should have been the second indicator that this was an “otherworldly” experience. All of the big names of Appreciative Inquiry, Positive Psychology, and Strength Based leadership were at this conference. I was so happy to see the luminaries joining hands and brains to describe the interface among and between all of the positive processes .

Sunday Jackie Binkert and I presented a day-long workshop on Appreciative Coaching, a really experiential day for coaches and people who work with coaches. We laid out the theory behind our process (Appreciative Inquiry) and then had participants work in pairs on a real topic through the four D cycle (Discover, Dream, Design, Destiny). We got great evaluations and had a grand time with our 31 participants.

The following days were filled with new learnings and new relationships. I watched and listened to my former mentor Frank Barrett describe Destiny through jazz and his magical jazz piano. Marcus Buckingham described his new book and new Strengths team assessment. Marty Seligman waxed lyrical about the work of Barbara Frederickson and positive emotions. Peter Coughlan of IDEO took us through a brainstorming session about finding new designs to address global warming. Dr. Frederickson herself provided the final keynote with two Indian yogis. She talked about the lasting positive effects of loving kindness meditation on individual happiness.

In between the keynotes, we mortals shared information, connected over drinks and goodies, and learned from each other. I particularly enjoyed my new Brazilian friends, Maria, Eduardo and Renato and hope to see them in their home city of Sao Paulo soon.

I will be doing a similar workshop with over 100 coaches for General Motors in a week or so. If you’d like to know more about the workshop for your company or group, respond to me here and I’ll contact you.

I’m so excited about my new project! I’ve just begun to interview editors and literary agents about their experience with co-authors, the perils and pleasures of co-authoring. Having suffered and celebrated co-authoring myself, I’d be interested in interviewing any readers of this blog who are or have been co-authors. I’ll respect your privacy and your anonymity. I want to offer tried and true ways to help potential co-authors have a truly satisfying and rewarding experience!