Occasionally I have an identity crisis. I think that’s good. From time to time I have to ask myself questions like: Who am I? What am I doing? Do I like doing it? Am I good at it? Will it help the world? and How does the world know I’m doing it?
It began this time when I asked a friend and colleague to help me with the process of reexamining my business card and letterhead. Since my last printing, I had expanded the way I work with voice, conflict and aikido, and I wanted my visual image to reflect the changes.
I thought it would be simple. She’d take all my questions and resolve them in some way that would be clear, concise, and visually pleasing. She did — but it wasn’t simple, and I wasn’t prepared for what lay ahead.
When she showed me her ideas I literally stepped back, wide-eyed, and almost stumbled over my chair. She presented a new, much more powerful image of me and my work. It was very different from the look I’d grown accustomed to, and it simultaneously shocked and delighted me. It also began an internal process of discovery that has been quite interesting.
Aikido and Power
I...