The Poem that Changed My Life

Back in 2016 I had the honor of being sent to The University of Oxford to complete the Women Transforming Leadership program. In addition to the 80 amazing women in attendance from all over the world, the biggest gifts the program offered were time, space and prompts for reflection. At the time I had only been in my job at Google for 4 months, but I was beginning to doubt if it was the right place for me. My soul was stirring. I left another high profile job to go to Google and felt just as empty and confused as before. At that moment I began to realize that it wasn’t the job, it was me. I was changing and my thoughts and definitions around success were shifting. Having reached the point in my career that I thought meant I was a “success”, I looked around and wondered “Is this all there is?” By the end of the week in Oxford, I knew it was time to come home and figure out how to move myself forward. So, when the poem “I Will Not Die an Unlived Life” by Dawna Markova was put on the board during our very last lesson, I was moved to tears.

I will not die an unlived life
I will not live in fear
of falling or catching fire.
I choose to inhabit my days,
to allow my living to open me,
to make me less afraid,
more accessible,
to loosen my heart
until it becomes a wing,
a torch, a promise.
I choose to risk my significance;
to live so that which came to me as seed
goes to the next as blossom
and that which came to me as blossom,
goes on as fruit.

In the end I chose to risk my significance by leaving Google to grow the seed of this coaching service so that I can help change the way women choose to live their lives. If you are in a place where your soul is stirring, do the universe a favor and listen. We need what you have to offer!