What do Mary Berry and David Attenborough have in common? Quite literally nothing. But look further and we find two excellent role models of older, wiser, compassionate people who have found their purpose. They are passionate about living it. Their lives have meaning and impact millions. They are optimistic and resilient. They are a joy to watch and listen to and could never be accused of being boring. With Mary Berry tipped to become a Dame and David Attenborough already a Sir, what can we learn from their excellent role modelling of leadership where our more obvious choices offer us nothing.
Hold on a minute. Why should a life of meaning matter when there is so much else to worry about, not the least with Covid? Why not save ourselves the effort in favour of easier options – for instance alcohol consumption has gone up by one third in lockdown according to Kings College, London and Britons have spent 40% of our waking hours during lockdown glued to the entertainment screen according to The Guardian.
Because the easier options can distract us for an evening but they won’t fulfil our deeper human need for purpose or promote our well-being in the long run. On the contrary, a life rich in meaning equates to the highest levels of health, happiness and longevity as Mary Berry and David Attenborough demonstrate.
Your life matters
When you feel that your life matters then your health matters too and you will naturally making healthier choices when it comes to food, work, relationships, where you live, how you live, and what you choose to believe in.
When you live on purpose you have something to focus on above and beyond the fallout of the pandemic; whether you are a young person attending school one minute and the next day required to stay away; the worker encouraged to operate from home when they can; or even the senior citizen advised not venture beyond the garden gate for their own good. Irrespective of age, you can choose purpose every day even in the smallest things – by investing your time in the right ones.
I’m living with an almost-80 year old and I observe how her garden gives her life meaning. Many hours each day she attends to it taking regular pauses to check in with her phone and catch up on the news. I’ve never heard her complain once about her shielding confinement because of lung cancer treatment during lockdown. She has better things to think about. Her garden is a masterpiece of ever-evolving and ever-changing art. It is her salve…
Discover what your garden is
As an infant, I was a squirrel living in the oak tree in the playground and other children joined me. In the garden at home I roamed my wild animals around the Sumac tree, which was an exotic jungle.
Indoors, I’d spend hours doing craftwork and reading books. Outdoors I’d roam the countryside, climb trees and explore quiet lanes. In the summer I lived on the beach, creating homesteads out of sand decorated with beach debris. I crested the waves as a sea otter or raced across the waterline as a sea dragon with a large piece of Furbelow’s kelp trailing me like a tail. I attended school too and got good grades but the activities I’ve described earlier already meant more to me.
I’m shy to admit this but I fell back on mature versions of my childhood pastimes to help me stay sane through 2020. I have spent more time outdoors than in a typical year, where encounters with nature and wildlife still thrill me. I live at least three hours from the coast yet I’ve visited three times this year and swum in the sea on each occasion – in the UK too. I’ve read far more novels than I’ve found time for in more routine years and I’ve been writing regularly (and I thank you all for reading it when you can). I’ve continued to produce my own craft work and facilitated others to make vision boards online. I’ve helped others create uplift in their homes and office environments – but not out of sand.
Much of my childhood was spent in solitary pursuits. So it has been during lockdown. Much of the time my friend spends in her garden she is alone except when the gardener joins her once a week. Neither of us are anti-social adults. All of us can tolerate more alone time than we think and our mental health won’t suffer if we do the right things.
Get into your flow
To stay maximally healthy, irrespective of age and circumstance, we should always find time for activities that allow our creative energy to flow. Rather than allow our children to lose themselves in passive pastimes, we can support them in finding their thing.
Instead of wasting our breath vociferating about what we can’t do, we can reign focus on what we can within the constraints imposed upon us by Covid. Our freedom is still enormous compared to those unfortunates whose worlds are destroyed by living in a war zone, starving because of failed crops, or thirsty because of drought.
Where we place our creative energy naturally will define us, our purpose emerge from what we make significant. It’s not enough to think about these things or plan to indulge in them one day. The 10,000-hour rule first coined by Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers is about people who bucked the norm and became absorbed in their passion. Over time their investment accumulated to form the coherent story of their life. BBC News magazine Can 10,000 hours of practice make you an expert?
Your best authority
Too many people wait for their story to be written before giving themselves permission to live it. We imprison ourselves with the reasons we give and talk ourselves out of having agency when only we alone can authorise our life. By imbuing our days with that which has meaning, the first sentence gets written. Followed by the next and the next.
When our creative drive is unable to find healthy expression it turns in on itself as stress and seeps through the cracks in the form of physical ailments and poor mental health. A common sentiment reported among those in the last throws of living by a palliative nurse is quite chilling: “I wish I had the courage to live a meaningful life and not be swept along by the expectations others had of me.”
What lights you up?
If you’ve lost touch with what has meaning for you then come and refresh yourself by making an intuitive vision board with me online. It will connect you to a deeper, wiser, navigational system and your immediate priorities and urgings will emerge. The IVB is a visual representation of what wants to happen next or be explored, irrespective of the pandemic. Your intuition will always lead you down the path that is exactly right for you.
The questions the Intuitive Vision Board sets out to explore are exactly what Mary Berry and David Attenborough have already found the answers to:
What lights me up? What makes my heart sing?
What do I like to do that makes life better for many and not just for myself?
What would I still find time for on the days when I’m not at my best?
Finally I’ll leave you with these powerful words from one of Ireland’s greatest poets and encourage you to join me for the Intuitive Vision Board programme – both the group workshop and 1-2-1 coaching online.
May my mind come alive today
To the invisible geography
That invites me to new frontiers,
To break the dead shell of yesterdays,
To risk being disturbed and changed.
May I have the courage today
To live the life that I would love,
To postpone my dream no longer
But do at last what I came here for
And waste my heart on fear no more.
John O’Donohue, excerpt from ‘A Morning Offering’
Next steps
BOOK HERE to discover what lights you up. The Intuitive Vision Board programme can include a 1-2-1 or group workshop and in-depth 1-2-1 coaching to unlock the optimum from this creative, intuitive process.
VISIT HERE for more information about Intuitive Vision Boards.
LOG ON HERE to receive regular updates or to ask a question.
Mary Nondé has pioneered the intuitive vision board since 201O. She is the author of ‘Awaken Your Intuitive Vision – unlocking possibilities you never knew existed AVAILABLE ON AMAZON or from your local bookstore. Mary’s formula works well for procrastinators or those who have hit the wall and are wondering what to do next. The IVB can help to get you moving again by envisioning possibilities you never knew existed.
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