about
“Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us.”
Steven Pressfield (author – The War of Art)
For 20 years I made a living as a creative director, using my skills in design and communication in the fields of marketing and product development.
Meanwhile, in my parallel life, I would try in fits and starts to do my own artwork. In between my real jobs, I would take a class or set up a studio, but it would never last.
I had many excuses: that I had to be the best or there was no point; that I didn’t have what it took to withstand the rejection; or that my art was too depressing and no one would like it. Eventually my initial enthusiasm, along with any inspiration, would fade away and I would stop.
“Are you going to die with a book in you like your father did?”
In other words, was I going to give up on my dream as well? It was only once I started to train as a Creativity Coach, that I again took up my art. Gradually, my small office began to sprawl with art supplies. Smudges of oil pastel materialized on my computer keys from stolen moments away from my job. Without realizing it, the Kaizen Muse approach was getting me beyond my own blocks.
Kaizen-Muse Coaching was created by Jill Badonsky (with influence from Dr. Robert Maurer and his book One Small Step Can Change Your Life) as an alternative to typical life coaching models that require linear, check-box, power-through approaches. That works well for some people, but it often doesn’t work for creatives. This style of coaching is structured around the client’s intuitions.
The discipline honed during my years in business, the technical and aesthetic sensibilities shaped by my Fine Arts degree, and the compassion and playfulness at the heart of my Kaizen-Muse creativity coach training—are the foundation of everything I now offer as a coach.