Blooming as a Catalytic Act of Leadership

I’ve been thinking a lot about blooming lately. We are surrounded here in Toronto with the glory of spring flowers blooming. Right now it’s the lilacs I’m noticing in particular. I am drawn in by their beauty and their scent. And I am also thinking about blooming because it’s the theme of our May Feminine Power Women’s circle.

What is so compelling about a bloom? The list is long – I am thinking about the power and the vulnerability of a bloom. In a flower, there is beauty, there may be a magnetic scent, and there is the vulnerability of the complete openness of a full bloom. When a woman blooms, there is also so much power and vulnerability. Blooming can be catalytic, an act of leadership.

Have you seen this 5-minute video of Keala Settle belting out the anthem “This is Me” from the movie The Greatest Showman? (Thank you to Anisa and Anne from our last retreat for introducing me to this song and video.) Not only do you see Keala moving from trying her best to be invisible (refusing to come out from behind her music stand) to really showing up in her fullest glory – blooming!!! – you get to see the response of those who surround her and support her in her blooming. There is a catalytic effect. She opens up and blooms with the encouragement of the others, and then as she does so, she inspires them to bloom too. It is a song, yes, and also a dance of sorts: Keala started singing and gathered her courage, likely partly from the powerful lyrics. Then she moved into the circle of the cast and started connecting with them, and they fed her more courage, and she started to open and bloom and belt out the song even more powerfully. They were moved by it greatly and sang back to her. They held her hand when she reached out for support, and that fed her, and she bloomed more, and so on. By the end everyone was lifted up - transformed! Keala’s blooming was a catalyst for this transformation. It really is incredibly moving to watch. I get so much courage when I listen to this song and/or watch the video. It’s catalytic for us watching the video.

Here are a few of my favourite lines from the song:

Look out ’cause here I come

And I'm marching on to the beat I drum

I'm not scared to be seen

I make no apologies, this is me

Songwriters: Justin Paul / Benj Pasek

This Is Me lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

Keala shows us her version of blooming. We all have our own version of blooming. We are like a stunningly beautiful massive bouquet of different flowers.

So, let's turn back to the vulnerability for a moment. I know it can be scary to think of blooming – so many different fears can come up, some even backed by research. We may fear that we will attract too much attention or the wrong kind of attention and it will be dangerous, or that we won’t be liked, or we will be hurt, isolated, or that we will diminish the greatness of others in blooming. But these are old patterns and fears and it’s time to move beyond them and transform them in doing so. What a loss if we don’t bloom! There is our personal loss – we don’t get to experience that feeling of opening and of being our most glorious selves. And it's a loss to others and to the world, since we won’t be able to contribute from that place of being in our full potential, blooming, and making and witnessing the impact we have on others in so doing. If we don't bloom, we don't get to notice that, in our blooming, we actually encourage others to open up and bloom too.In truth, the world really needs us to bloom, and we need it too!!

The great thing about the Feminine Power Women’s Circles is that we can practice blooming in a safe space. As a result of that safety,  much of our vulnerability can melt away and we are left with experiencing the power and potential of our blooms, as other women mirror our potential back to us and also amplify it for us. Then we can go out into the world and bloom there, together, and make the powerful contributions we are meant to make.

So what do you say? Will you come and practise blooming with us this month? I hope so!

As always, I welcome your comments.