In her own words…Carole Henmi:
We spoke with Carole after attending a recent workshop.
How did you hear about The 3rd Act? Why were you interested?
I’ve been on your mailing list for several years and your topic has always intrigued me. Turning 50 was a big milestone for me, and I’ve been aware about embracing, as Angeles Arrien would say, the “second half of life”. I try to live my life as consciously as possible, and believe that we are each here to live out our unique purpose. And being an executive coach, I regularly have clients who are wondering about their next chapter, so I’m always trying to expand and deepen my ability to support them and suggest good resources. I think that a life well lived has many chapters — so I love that you are working with women & men to help them consciously design their next chapter, their “3rd Act”!
Why did you decide to attend the workshop at this time in your life?
This is truly interesting times in which we live. During this recession, I’ve really noticed the fear and anxiety that permeates the air – it’s as though society has retracted not just financially, but at a psychic level as well. Given these times, I think it’s even more important to not get hijacked by fear and to stay centered and true to what is meaningful and satisfying. So it felt like a perfect time to be in community with other women for the collective purpose of reflecting on our lives, and supporting each other to consciously shape our paths ahead.
What did you value most about the workshop?
What I really loved was being with other women that were my age or older — being able to share our inner most hopes and fears about aging, and seeing the commonality we all share. In our society, unlike indigenous societies, being an elder isn’t valued. I walked away from the day feeling inspired, and seeing that I want to step into my senior years really embracing what it means to be a true elder. I realized that becoming an elder does mean having to face loss and difficulties, but it also means that our wisdom years can be filled with delight & a new sense of freedom! I really enjoyed the visualizations and creative exercises we did that helped us to reflect on our life journeys, and envision what we want to create next in our “3rd Act”. In our busy lives, it is such a gift to have quality time to reflect on the important questions in our lives. It was definitely time well spent. The ground you covered in a one day workshop was amazing, and I was impressed with how deep we were able to go.
What were the outcomes for you in attending? How do you intend to act on those?
It really helped me to integrate my life experiences with different ideas and dreams I’ve been mulling over, and I got a new image of how I could bring those together – that was very exciting! The collective force of having others affirm what they heard and provide suggestions was valuable. From an internal perspective, it was very gratifying to get a focused picture of my vision going forward. On a practical level, it was helpful to identify some specific next steps I could walk away with, and I’ve since taken action on several of them. I appreciated the great job you did working at both of these levels — the big picture level & the Monday morning relevance level. As a coach, I well know that change only occurs when you take insight to action!
Anything else you would like to say?
The two of you created a wonderful container for safety and intimacy. I appreciated how well you partnered together, bringing complementary backgrounds and skills. I loved all you did to create a beautiful, comfortable space for the day – the flowers, the candles, the music, and the food. Your clear intentions and generous spirits contributed to all of us in a very vital & caring way – thank you both for a memorable day!
