The management is attending the Living Powerfully Master Class — by Zoom, naturally. Session 1 arrived with homework: notice where you are “at the effect of life,” and where you merely know a thing rather than being it. Here is Alice’s submission, filed between mouthfuls and under mild protest.
Part One — Where am I “at the effect of life”?
I noticed immediately, and then I noticed that noticing this is rather beneath a Director. Nevertheless, in the spirit of coachability, I persevered.
I am, it pains me to file, entirely at the effect of the food basket. I do not decide when the carrots arrive; a large, under-slept human does. I have been operating under the delightful conviction that I cause the carrots — that by sitting on the railing and staring meaningfully at the door, I summon them into being. The assignment calls this “predictable action.” I call it excellent action. But I concede the timing is not mine. I am, technically, waiting. Do not tell Oscar.
I also notice my repertoire collapses entirely in the rain, to: be damp, look affronted. Apparently more is available to me than damp affront. I remain open to persuasion.
The instruction was to notice all of this “without adding significance to it.” This is the hardest part of the exercise. I add significance to everything. It is my whole brand.
Part Two — Knowing versus being
I know I am cause in the matter of this veranda; I have said so, in writing, repeatedly, and at volume. The assignment rudely enquires whether I am being it, or simply knowing it very confidently from a railing. My days: arrive 4:37, accept one carrot from the hand, make the human feel useful, withdraw. Reliable. Possibly too reliable. And where, in all that, is the possum who defies the predictable? Still on the railing, I suspect — looking marvellous, waiting for carrots.
I shared this with Oscar, who received it from two metres away and said nothing whatsoever, which I am recording as “one person, one day.”
— Alice
Director of Veranda Relations