I recently looked at two photos I took this spring – one in March, one in May – during the Leading from Pleasure retreat in Sweden. The landscape changed so much, and so did I. It was like nature whispered, “Hey, I’m your mirror. Slow down and look.”
We’re often racing through life like we’re late for a train that never really arrives. But sometimes the most powerful act is pause on the bridge between who we are and who we are becoming, and really look at what’s moving under the surface. Nature has this honest way of holding up a mirror. You see what’s alive, what’s shedding, what’s waiting to bloom again. And if we are willing to open both mind and heart to listen, our emotional weather becomes much clearer and the action that follows is so much more intentional.
At a recent European Mental Health Week session organized by Across the Boarder NGO, one of the brilliant speakers Sonal Dhanani, guided a meditation to reconnect with your inner landscape. It was so simple and powerful. One question: What’s your emotional landscape today? Not yesterday. Not tomorrow. Just… now. If you’re a leader or changemaker, you might know how lonely the path of transformation can sometimes be, especially when the world feels heavy and progress seems slow. And yet, I was deeply moved by the young women of the Across the Border NGO. Despite the challenges they face, they keep showing up to support others, share tools, and spread care. That kind of courage and resilience? It’s a true leadership! It also reminded me: we don’t have to cross the bridge alone.
Change is a landscape too
We often expect ourselves to move through change in our professional or personal life like we’re on a tight schedule: perform, deliver, move to the next task. But transformation isn’t about ticking boxes. It’s more like walking through shifting terrain – sometimes smooth, sometimes rocky, always revealing.
This spring, I allowed myself to sit with grief over my fading past professional identity, even if I felt also a joyfull anticipation about my personal transformation – becoming a wife. Holding such contrasting emotions felt ackward, yet I chose to give a bit of breathing space to what was present and what wanted to emerge. Because when we stop for a moment, not trying to rush to the other side, something beautiful happens, we hear what’s true for us.
Your Inner Leader Re-Activation
So how do we reconnect with our own leadership when life feels messy? Ask yourself: What gives me energy? What drains me? Notice. Write it down. You feed yourself with more than just food – your thoughts, people, tasks, and places all matter.
Here are my most helpful insights from my ongoing research on navigating change with balance and ease (instead of dis-ease):
★ Accept what is and reflect on what it means for you in the short and long term. What is trying to emerge? (without any shame or blame, especially when it feels uncomfortable)
★ Re-activate your Inner Leader. Don’t hand your power to inner saboteurs or external voices.
★ Connect with those who uplift you. You don’t have to walk the bridge alone.
To support this, I created a simple 4-step tool to help you return to yourself – that wise, grounded part of self-acceptance and self-authority, your Inner Leader that knows how to navigate even when the path ahead is foggy.
Just like the caterpillar must go through stages to become a butterfly, we all need the right conditions to grow and eventually fly. Finding your people, a circle that supports and expands you, can make the journey easier and richer. There are conscious leaders and changemakers out there, ready to walk with you. Choose wisely whom you walk your bridges with – toward something new, bigger, and meaningful.
Dedicated to my husband David – my favourite co-traveller through the bridges.
The magic of 1st May will stay in my heart – full of love, gratitude and joy!