Managing Overwhelm Around Starting a Business as an HSP Using Inner Work

Client: [00:00:00] So I lost my job to COVID. Now it’s been, well, it it’s been almost two years. It, it’s like a year. It’s been a year and a half. And I’ve been trying to start my own thing since then, which I’m not sure what that is yet. Um, and so I just have this recurring, stressful thought, like, I’m never gonna come up with something.

I’m never gonna get this going. I should have had this together already. Um, I’m never gonna figure out my life. Um. I don’t know what I have to offer. There’s too many things I can offer it. It’s like it’s just this never ending, like spinning the wheels. 

Todd: Welcome to Wiggle Room, a podcast where we deal with everything related to the work of Byron Katie.

If you’ve never heard of this [00:01:00] simple, uh, approach to meditation, you’re in for a treat. The work of Byron Katie is a way to question any kind of stressful thought and to. Often shift the experience to a more peaceful and open, uh, experience. Once again,

I’m Todd Smith and on the program today, a participant does the work on the thought. I’m never going to figure this out. She has, uh, been struggling to get something started for a year and a half. Wants to, wants to create something that she is able to do that she really loves to do, um, but is feeling frustrated.

So, we’ll question that thought. So let’s dive into the work of Byron Katie together. It’s a simple, powerful way to question what you think, and we’ll start by. Listening to the recording of this week’s open session, I’m sharing the unedited versions of the recordings here so that you can [00:02:00] experience how the work really is and um, what it’s like to do it when you’re doing it on your own.

So here’s the recording.

Client: So I didn’t do a worksheet, but I have a recurring, uh, stressful situation that. Maybe, I don’t know if I could just like maybe tell you a little bit about it and then maybe I could come up with this stressful thought to work on. 

Todd: Yeah, yeah. Sometimes when I’m just trying to figure out what stressful thought to question, I just kind of brainstorm.

Just like, like you say, just tell, talk about it kind of. I’ll take a few notes as you’re doing that and then we can kind of narrow it down and see if we can find, um, a particular thought to question. So yeah, what’s going on? 

Client: Okay, so I lost my job to COVID. So it’s been, well, it, it’s been almost two years.

It, it’s like a year. It’s been a year and a half. And I’ve been trying to start my own [00:03:00] thing since then, which I’m not sure what that is yet. Um, and so I just have this recurring, stressful thought, like, I’m never gonna come up with something. I’m never gonna get this going. I should have had this together already.

I’m never gonna figure out my life. Um, I don’t know what I have to offer. There’s too many things I can offer it. It’s like, it’s just this never ending, like spinning the wheels, um, and feeling like I’m going nowhere. 

Todd: Totally. Yeah, totally understandable kind of situation. So did you hear, as you were speaking, so many stressful thoughts were coming out actually faster than I could even write them down.

Client: Yes. And I, I think I wake up every morning like that, like, oh my gosh, another day. And here I am and I’m not gonna do anything again today that’s gonna get me any closer. Like the more time that [00:04:00] passes, the more I feel like I don’t have the ability to do this. It’s like getting more and more stuck over time.

Todd: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And, and some of that is like the stressful situation. And then some of those stressful thoughts, like, I’m never gonna come up with something. And then it starts building on itself. Like you start getting into reaction of like the stressful thoughts, create more stressful thoughts, and they become more and more global.

Like, I don’t even have the ability, I’m, I’m not good enough. You know, it, it can just. Spiral, um, or snowball as, as you will. So let’s see if we can figure out like where, what are the, what’s a thought that’s kind of in, in the beginning part of that process. So something like, uh, let me read what I have and then you may want to add some more or play with it, but, 

okay.

Todd: I’m never gonna come up with something. So that’s, that’s one possibility. Um. I don’t [00:05:00] know what I have to offer and there’s too many things, uh, to figure out what to offer. Um, I’m not going to get any closer. And then more recently, you were saying I don’t have the ability, uh, to do this. So these are just a few of the thoughts.

I obviously didn’t get them all down. Uh, but as you hear those, do any of those sound like they’re, um, close to. What is, uh, stressing you the most? 

Client: I think there’s something about the, I noticed just in my body, I felt a bodily reaction, and I should have written down whatever you said, but I think it was something about I am, I’m never gonna figure this out.

Yeah. Or I’m, yeah. It like, it’s this feeling that I’m gonna stay like this forever. I’m, you know, um. Yeah, I think it’s, I’m never gonna figure [00:06:00] this out. I’m gonna stay in the same place for a really long time. Okay. 

Todd: Okay, great. So identifying stressful thoughts is. It’s just the simple version of it is listening to myself and what you were doing there is like, you’re feeling like, really, that’s really what we’re doing.

So the thoughts are coming, we’re brainstorming all these thoughts, and then, then one of them just calls your attention. It’s like, it’s, it, it’s feels connected to that stressful. Experience. So that’s what I trust when I start doing the work. I trust my experience and I trust that feeling of stress, that that’s where, um, that’s a good one to start working on.

Client: Yeah. My whole body just runs 

Todd: Yeah. 

Client: Inside when you said it, you know. Totally, 

Todd: totally, totally. Okay, so let’s work that one then. You’re never gonna figure this out. So [00:07:00] is it true you’re never gonna figure this out? 

Client: I mean, it feels like a possibility.

Todd: Yeah. 

Client: Um, so if you 

Todd: had to land on a yes or a no, where would you go? Never gonna figure this out. Are you sure? Is it true?

Client: Well, I’ll say it’s not true. Like I’ll figure something out. I may not figure this out. I mean, that’s sort of where I get stuck, like, well, maybe I won’t figure out my own business, but I’ll figure something out. You know? So yeah, I guess I would say it’s not true. 

Todd: Yeah, that’s what we’re looking for. Like here’s that little bit of wiggle room.

Right. You know where, okay. I may not figure this out. I don’t know that for sure, but I may and I may figure something else out. [00:08:00] So, okay. So how do you react? What happens when you have the thought, like you were just experiencing it? Experiencing it a few minutes ago? That you’re never going to figure this out, and you’ve been at this for a year and a half.

Client: So I feel hopeless. I wake up stressed and depressed and contracted, which doesn’t get me any closer to figuring it out. Um.

I start to, that becomes like my story. You know, my, so it’s like my mindset. So it starts to just set everything. I’m like setting myself up for failure. It feels like when I, when I say that to myself,

um, it makes me unhappy. So I move in the [00:09:00] world from a place of. Unhappiness rather than like feeling good and satisfied with my life. Yeah. It, it keeps me from doing work because it feels hopeless already. It already feels overwhelming, so I can’t even step in and see is it or is it not? Or what is the truth?

Yeah.

Todd: I’m never gonna figure this out. 

Client: It feels like it makes everything magnified. Like then I go from there. I’m never gonna figure this out. So I don’t know how I’m gonna take care of myself. And what if something happens to my husband or um, I. You know, my son is growing up, so he’ll be leaving the house soon.

I won’t have anything and I’ll be, you know, I’ll just spiral because I don’t have a purpose. [00:10:00] It starts like getting into every other area of my life, you know? Yeah,

Todd: totally.

And what are the images. That you see even more clearly in the future. Like, I’m never gonna figure this out. 

Client: Me at home by myself, nothing to do, no life.

I mean, I can see the humor in it, but I, those are the images I truly see, you know? Totally, 

Todd: totally. Yeah. We, we can laugh about it. It’s true, but this is how you react. You know, it’s, you can’t help it. 

Client: Yeah, I, this is, this is one of those thoughts. Yeah. It’s like I imagine myself getting old and not having a life and not doing something really meaningful when I know I’m capable of it like that.

I have [00:11:00] skills to be of use in this world, and somehow they don’t get accessed, and so I just grow old and I live a life that’s meaningless and and die. 

Todd: Yeah. Yeah. So that’s the extreme version of where the mind goes, right. I’m never gonna figure this out. Which is funny you say that because it 

Client: doesn’t feel extreme in the moment.

I’m like, no. The reality is if I don’t figure this out, that’s what’s gonna happen. I have no life. 

Mm-hmm. 

Client: Which is you believe it. I know it’s not the truth, but I, I, yeah. In my head it is. Now that we’re talking about it. 

Todd: Yeah. Yeah. When I believe something, it’s true For me, that’s really just the bottom line.

I believe it. I see those images. That’s all the proof I need now. I just see the whole thing, you know, the whole big train wreck and it’s, and then I feel the emotion connected with that. 

Client: Yeah. 

Todd: It’s a powerful thought. [00:12:00] I’m never gonna figure this out. It can just shut you right down. 

Client: Yeah, just talking about it, like I’m realizing how much I do see my future like that.

There’s no possibility for anything else. Like I’m keeping that sort of image in my head all the time. 

Todd: Yeah. Yeah. So who would you be without the thought that you’re never gonna figure this out? Same situation, you don’t have work. Who would you be without the thought? You’re never gonna figure this out?

Client: Well, I would definitely see a lot more possibility in my life. I would be happier,

I would be more available to my life. Now

I. [00:13:00] Like I could enjoy the fact that I have more time now and just enjoy what I do have in life rather than living in the future all the time. 

Todd: That’s so interesting to see, like with the thought, I’m never gonna figure this out. I can’t enjoy the spare time, the extra time that’s actually available at the moment without the thought.

I’m never gonna figure this out. There’s more easiness, more ability to enjoy it. 

Client: I’m trying to imagine if I didn’t have the thought,

I guess I’d still be, I’d still be taking action and then other times I wouldn’t be just like I am now. I would just be, I happier.

Todd: Yeah. So this. Always points to my internal experience, right? [00:14:00] And my actions may or may not be that different, but my internal experience of this point in my life would be lighter.

So I’m never gonna figure this out. What do you, who would you be? What would you see when you look at. These, the potential, um, directions that you’re looking at, that you’re exploring, like you’re, you’ve got some ideas in mind as you look at that. What would you see if you didn’t have the thought? I’m never gonna figure this out.

Client: Gosh, when you’re saying it, I’m like, this thought is strong because it’s hard for me to even imagine What I would see to be fair. 

Yeah, like it’s really not a 

Client: hold on me. Like I’m having a hard time imagining what I [00:15:00] would see without that. 

Todd: And that happens sometimes when you’re doing the work. It’s like that thought is so strong that I can barely even imagine.

Who would I be without the thought? 

Client: Because should I, the things replacing the thought, Todd, should I be like when you say that? 

Todd: No. 

Client: Should I replace it with a different thought? Because I can’t even imagine without it, like, 

Todd: yeah, no, no. It’s, it’s okay. It’s like, just give it time. Like basically, when that thought is so sticky for me, I’m never gonna figure this out.

And I can barely, I, I, it’s just hard to imagine without it, like give it time. This is a meditation. So, you know, sometimes, um, we can just play with this together a little bit. And then the other thing is, keep in mind that. You don’t have to stop believing the thought to do, to answer question four. You know, the question four is, who would you be without the thought?

And you can still be [00:16:00] believing that you’re never going to figure this out. Like that may just be, it’s so truthful sounding to you that you’re, that you’re still believing that. But you can still imagine without any threat to that, that experience. You can still imagine. What would it be like? Like purely hypothetically if you were, if you were almost, you know, like if the big que big if, if you didn’t have the thought and it’s like you almost have to imagine yourself could be like almost as a different person or in a different state of mind.

Like what would it be like? Um, not saying that the reality is. Necessarily going to be that, but what would it be like if that thought wasn’t there, that you’re never gonna figure this out? 

Client: Well, I can imagine myself as another person, ’cause I know other people in similar situations who don’t have that thought.

[00:17:00] I’m just like, how do you not have that thought?

Yeah, so imagine now 

Todd: get close to it though. Get close to it, and imagine yourself as that other person in your situation. Who would you be? Yeah.

Client: Well, all of a sudden, like I felt like this, like things would be happening. You know, without that thought that I’m never gonna figure this out, like things would actually be happening right now. Like there was something inside me, like energy picked up. It was like that thought is so draining without it, and I can only doing it imagining someone else in my situation, it’s just like, oh, things would be happening.

Todd: Yeah, see you, you experienced that. Yeah. You had to imagine yourself [00:18:00] as another person in your situation, but as soon as you did then that imagination did not include the thought. You’re never gonna figure this out ’cause you’re that person. Right? Yeah. And so then the experience starts to, to pick up like, oh, what would it be?

Like, oh, things start moving. So things start, um, moving 

Client: and it, it doesn’t really even matter if. I figured it out or not. I don’t know. Without the thought. It just, it doesn’t matter. Something’s happening in my life. 

Exactly. It. 

Client: So yeah, that was, that was good to visualize someone else coming in and, and being me without that thought and living this life, it could look so different.

So go 

Todd: one step, one step further, like now. Be that other person without the thought that you’re never gonna figure this out. And look at the things in front of you, the the different possibilities that you’re [00:19:00] looking at, the different options that you’re exploring. Like really look closely at what’s in front of you and what do you see without the thought.

You’re never gonna figure this out, 

Client: like so many possibilities. There’s so much I could do, and not in the same overwhelming way. It’s just like I can do anything. You know? Like someone else would look at us like, you have so many skills. You have the background and so many things, like you could do anything.

Just pick. That’s what I feel. Yeah. 

Todd: So this is the difference. This is who you would be if you weren’t burdened by this thought, that you’re never going to figure this out. The thought weighs you down as you described. Yeah. 

And 

Todd: if that wasn’t there, even if you had to be another person to experience it, your vision would be lighter.

Your vision would be, oh, I can just pick [00:20:00] one of these. Anyone will do. Yeah. Like what? There’s some, there’s things moving. 

Client: Yeah. This person is like, why? Why am I what? What’s her problem? Why is she stuck? Like there’s there, it’s just possibility here. There’s so many possibilities. Right. 

Todd: Right. So from this, we see the effect of the thought, right?

Yeah. What we’re looking at here when we’re doing the work is we’re looking at cause and effect. The thought is a cause. The emotion or the experience reactions are the effect. And so with the thought we saw, how it just weighs you down, drains your energy, and you’re unable to. Do anything if, if you don’t have the thought, then the same situation would not be draining.

No, that’s, I mean, that’s amazing actually, when you stop and think about it, that this one thought is enough to cloud the experience to give a completely different experience of the same [00:21:00] situation. 

Client: Because when we started and you named that thought and I said, everything went like this inside of me. And now as I’m experiencing it from another person who doesn’t have the thought, my life, I feel like this like just space around me.

Lightness. 

Yes. 

Todd: Yes. Everything feels open right 

Client: now. 

Todd: Yes. So that’s the, that’s the power of the thought, the thought. Makes a big difference in my experience. Just that thought. So let’s try turning that thought around and play with some turnarounds and see if there’s any other side to the story that maybe we’re missing.

Um, so I’m never gonna figure this out. That’s the original statement. What would a turnaround be? 

Client: I am gonna figure this out. 

Todd: I am gonna figure this out. So we have to look at, is there any. Evidence or any possibility, um, that this [00:22:00] turnaround could be as true or maybe even truer than the other, the original, which is I’m never gonna figure this out.

Yeah. I mean, I’m 

Client: already taking steps and doing things that are moving me in a direction towards possibility. So that’s one reason. 

Okay. Okay. Um, yep. 

Client: And like I. I’m not giving up. Like I keep putting myself out there and, and thinking about this, and so there’s no reason to think I won’t figure it out.

There’s, you know what I mean? There’s not, that’s a good one’s a real obstacle. It’s more just like, okay, what direction am I gonna take? I just haven’t, like, I haven’t bitten the bullet yet, I should say. 

Todd: Right. Well, the, the, the, um, fact that you keep. Keep going on, even though you haven’t bitten the bullet yet.

Like, even though, uh, it’s like there’s a, there’s a [00:23:00] sticktoitiveness, you know? Yeah. Like you’re sticking to it there. That’s probably from an outsider point of view, one of the most, um, helpful things in making something actually happen. 

Client: Yeah. 

Todd: So, 

Client: and also, okay. What other evidence? There’s recognition of like, I haven’t figured it out yet.

I know it’s been a year and a half, but in that year and a half, like so much has shifted and changed. It’s not like nothing has happened in that time and things will continue to shift and change. If I were to follow the pattern I’ve been on for the last year and a half, that is moving me in a direction where I will get closer and closer and eventually something will come of that.

Todd: Yeah. Yeah. I love that. Like sometimes a lot of things have to shift and change before we even start seeing any kind of progress, you know? Yeah. Like I have to build the base of the pyramid before it starts getting, um, you know, any height to it. 

Client: Yeah. Yeah. 

Todd: So, okay. [00:24:00] These are, these are good examples. We’re looking for examples of how it’s just as possible that you will figure this out.

You are going to figure this out. Um. And we don’t know for sure ’cause it’s still in the future, but we can imagine what are, what are the things that support this theory that you will be able to figure it out?

Client: Well, I guess just, I don’t know if I said this already, but there’s just such a strong desire. Like there’s a lot of reasons I really wanna do this. So I know I’m not just gonna give up and like what? Lay in my bed all day. Like I know that’s not gonna happen. So it’s just much more likely that something’s gonna happen when I put in the time and the work.

I just don’t know what that’s gonna look like [00:25:00] right now. It’s like, just because I can’t, coming soon as I about that, it’s like I can feel the fear coming, like the closing down starts happening again. 

Todd: Mm-hmm. Well, what, what the mind starts to believe is that it has to see everything, all the steps clearly.

All the way to the goal. 

Yeah. In 

Todd: order to, um, feel confident that I’m gonna be able to do this. Mm-hmm. But do you need to know all of that stuff? Do you need to know exactly how it’s gonna go and where the, all the twists and turns and how it’s going to, and even where it’s gonna end up? Does that, is that necessary?

Client: No. No, but I think in my mind, maybe I do want that, you know, it’s like I know better. Yeah. And yet I could see how quickly I just went right back down the river. As soon as I started talking about, well, it’s, I’ve been dedicated for a long time, and then comes in that thought again. Yeah. [00:26:00] Nothing has happened.

Yeah. 

Todd: Which comes full circle to I’m never gonna figure this out. Right, exactly. So that’s how you start climbing out of the hole and then you fall right back into the hole and that happens. Yeah. That’s, that’s the process we’re going through here. Yeah. So when you notice it. Just notice. Okay. I started believing the thought.

Again, it’s, it’s more evidence that when I believe that thought, I’m never gonna figure this out. That’s the effect. Closed down. 

Mm-hmm. 

Todd: So, um, so touch back again. Who would you be without the thought that you’re never gonna figure this out? 

Client: Just yeah. Review that. Experience possibilities. It’s like I’m remembering that from a moment ago how I felt, so it’s easier to come back to it.

It was just a moment ago, you know? 

Todd: Exactly, exactly. Once you see that, you know the thought. The thought is what pulls me down and then without the thought, it wouldn’t be as, as [00:27:00] heavy then. You’ve got a reference for it now you, and so you can, uh, if you notice that pulling down, just check back in again.

Who would I be without the thought? Oh yeah. It would be like this. And then it’s like, get you, get your bearings again. 

Client: Yeah. It’s, it’s like amazing to watch within myself that it’s literally the thought. Nothing has changed in my life, and I can go from feeling completely contracted and closed down to completely light and open up and full of possibility.

Like that’s crazy. 

Todd: Isn’t that amazing? Yeah. That your experience is so clear, like what you’ve just described is so clear. This is what we are doing when we do the work all the time. But you describe it so crystal clear. It’s like the thought. Is what makes the difference. Mm-hmm. And so that is really good news because a thought is really nothing.

It’s just a, the thought, some kind of concept in my mind. And that’s what we’re doing here is we’re [00:28:00] questioning thoughts when I question the thought. And I realize that that’s the effect of the thought. And it would be way different if I didn’t have the thought. We can kind of go and explore more of these turnarounds of maybe that thought isn’t even true.

Yeah. Like maybe I’m like. So let’s keep going in that direction. Okay. I’m never gonna figure this out. Turns around I’m, I’m going to figure this out, or I may figure this out. So any other evidence to support that possibility that you may figure this out? Any past experience figuring thing, figuring things out, or anything in this situation that would support that?

Client: I have really supportive people in my life who are always like, who are. Who encourage me and encourage me on this path. And it’s like, yeah, just really encouraging and always pushing me like to this, you know, this would be so you’d be so [00:29:00] great at this and just keep going and you can do this sort of stuff.

So yeah, a lot of encouragement around me, people helping me and supporting me. 

Todd: That’s great. Yeah. 

Client: Um. 

Todd: So that kind of support, it’s like another, another kind of help in moving that direction. You know, speaking as someone who, who I owned my own business and have owned my own business, other businesses before this one, it’s an, it’s not an easy job.

Like there’s a lot involved and, um. And for me it was just like you had that des that desire, I just want to do this. This feels like how I want to serve. And I just keep coming back to that and figuring out the next step. Just the next step only. [00:30:00] Um, so I. 

Client: There’s also, and like with you saying that there’s something that’s feeling just the state of the world and where we are, like there is something in me and I’m sure lots of people now just like, it’s really shifted the way that I see everything and, and it’s become really important to know that whatever I, however I spend my days, that it, it’s somehow helpful, you know?

So I think that’s another thing that’s gonna just keep propelling me forward. ’cause I know I won’t be satisfied in another, in a line of work where I don’t feel like I’m making an impact in a way that somehow is gonna serve the help be helpful out in the world somehow, you know? 

Todd: Yeah. So that’s, those are powerful things.

When I have a vision like that of something that I can do that is that I’m a good fit for. That would also serve others. [00:31:00] Then the figuring it out part becomes like the peripherals, right? I, I’m, I have a desire and I have a, uh, an idea of where I’d like to go, and then it’s just a matter of it constantly learning and seeing if I can keep improving 

and, yeah, 

Todd: being patient.

Client: So, which also what came up is. When I, I really like how, because the thought was so sticky, I couldn’t imagine myself without that. You put someone else, like in my body, it’s also helpful in another level because I can see all these other things that are holding me back that are part of the like Kira story that keep me from moving forward, which this other person doesn’t have.

So it’s just, it ties in like all these other pieces. And again, those are all thoughts too, but you can, I can just see them. 

Mm-hmm. 

Client: Yeah. And the impact, so you’re getting, they have, [00:32:00] which is not based in any sort of reality, like they literally live in my head. That’s it. 

Todd: Yeah. So for me, doing this kind of work is a part of how I keep moving forward because these thoughts.

Are, you know, some people may have less of them and they’re, they’re just not, I impeded by them. But if, if I have these kind of thoughts, then part of building a business is dealing with those thoughts, questioning those thoughts. And so that’s why I like to make it a practice. I like to just do this work regularly and it just keeps chipping away at all of the.

Stories and concepts that keep me from, um, from just serving in a way that I think would, would be good for me and for others. So there’s a lot of, lot of options here, right? A lot of possibilities here. And, um, and you [00:33:00] never know. You never know. 

Client: It’s super helpful, Todd, because. And I say this, I mean, every time before I do this work, it’s like I know what it’s gonna say.

I know, you know, and then when I do it, every time there is a experience that you have that there, it creates a shift internally that’s so powerful. And I don’t, you can’t, it’s hard to catch when you’re watching someone else doing the work as much, or when you imagine doing your own work, like you have to really go through it and, and.

It, it really is a, a powerful shift. Like I’m, I feel really grateful we did this today. It’s helpful. Like I wanna keep working with that for sure. 

Todd: Beautiful. Yes. It’s, it’s an experience. This work is a meditation. Mm-hmm. It’s intellectually we could have just, you could have read a book and gotten probably some of the same insights.

Right. But it’s a different thing when you’re going through and experiencing this as, as a meditation, [00:34:00] it touches something on a deeper level and, and that’s what shifts I see something differently. And that’s very different from just kind of intellectually understanding it. So, yeah, thank you for going through that process and um, yeah, keep, keep on doing it.

’cause that is, that is a job. Yeah, it is a, it’s a part of, of, um. Of doing anything, it can be a part of doing anything. And what it, the difference that it makes is that as I shift internally my vision of something, then the external action becomes easier. There’s less, uh, there are less clouds in the way.

Client: Yeah, I can, I can. Feel that right now. Like, let me get off, let me get to work.

I can. 

Client: It’s really just, there’s such a lightness about it right in this moment, so I, I will keep working with it. Thank you. 

Todd: You’re welcome. You’re welcome. Thank you. [00:35:00] If you’d like to participate in open sessions. Go to the work as meditation.com and then open sessions and you’ll see the schedule coming up.

You can sign up in your own time zone, uh, scheduling’s very easy. And if you want to actually do the work with me in these sessions, then sign up as a guest participant. That’s a great way to get some firsthand experience of doing this work. So next I’m gonna read one of my newsletter articles, and this one’s called The Work is a lot like Photography.

So for those of you who don’t know me, I was a professional photographer for about seven years and I love photography. It’s a great, great way of, um, experiencing the world. So here’s the article. The work is a lot like photography. A slight change in angle makes all the difference. I was a professional photographer for years.[00:36:00] 

A big part of photography was finding an unusual angle on a scene. They say the difference between good art and great art is a matter of millimeters. One little move in your position and the scene can look dramatically different. For example, in the photographer, in the photograph that I show here in this article, which is a picture of McIntyre Bluff in the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia where I live, um, the.

The photograph works because of the camera angle. Um, when I first got to the scene, I couldn’t see the lake. I could only see a small part of the vineyard. And, um, it didn’t really look very dramatic or very interesting. So what I did was I climbed up a cliff about 20, 30 feet and suddenly the whole thing opened up.

I could see Lake Vasu, I could see the rolling hills, filled with the grapevines. And as soon as I could see that new angle my heart [00:37:00] opened up and I, I stood there just without even looking through the camera, and I was just, just stunned by the beauty of the scene. So the work of Byron Katie is kind of similar.

If photography is about finding beautiful scenes, then the work is about finding beautiful insights or beautiful ways of experiencing a situation. They’re always out there. It’s just a matter of looking for them. And I used to challenge myself. I used to do a newsletter where I, um, for my photography, and I used to challenge myself every week to take a.

To find beautiful photographs no matter what the season, no matter what’s going on. Uh, and it was amazing just going out and looking. I would, I would find them. That’s just, it happened. So as a photographer, I used to feel that any scene whatsoever had beauty and was worth photographing. Um, one time I even photographed [00:38:00] Poison Ivy, and it turned out to be a very appealing and beautiful photograph.

So it was my job as a photographer to find that beauty by looking from every angle. And that was the technique. I looked from every angle in every possible light, uh, to see what I could find. So now, as a facilitator of the work of Byron Katie, I feel the same way. Nothing’s changed. I’m still doing photography, if you will, any situation, no matter how stressful it has been.

Somewhere in there, there’s some beauty lying in it. It’s just a matter of finding it and a matter of looking from every angle. So the process is the same. Now I’m dealing with something more internal. Um, but it’s the same process of looking for angles. That’s what the four questions and turnarounds are for me.

That’s what the four questions and turnarounds of the work of Byron Katie are. They’re a way to explore every angle of a [00:39:00] stressful thought. I can shift my perspective, even just one degree, and the result can be a completely different experience of the same situation. That’s all we’re doing. Just shifting perspective, no need to change the landscape, just change your point of view.

One degree can make the difference between yuck and amazing. And here’s a quote from Byron Katie. Um, her book Loving What is, uh. As you come to see what isn’t true for you, and as you experience question three, how do I react and what do I say and do when I believe that thought? There is such a shift inside of you that you may lose the most essential agreements with your family.

Charlie should brush his teeth. Is it true? No, not until he does.

Okay. So, um, [00:40:00] thank you for listening to, to This work, to this podcast. And don’t forget to subscribe. You can subscribe to the podcast here or go to the work as meditation.com. And at my website, the work as meditation.com. You can also get my newsletter. You can participate in open sessions like you heard today, and you’ll find hundreds of articles about the work of Byron Katie that I’ve written over the years, as well as information about my online course, the Work 1 0 1.

Great way to dive in deeper into the work virtual retreats, like a weekend experience of doing the work online. Um, we do that on Zoom at Inquiry Circle, my ongoing practice group for the work and other programs that I offer. So until next time, have a great week. Thank [00:41:00] you.