As we approached the Brooklyn Bridge we encountered a huge billboard… sort of warning and welcome wrapped into one. It’s not the kind of sign you’d see in Wyoming, or even in Boston. But then again the volume of people in New York is truly mind and body boggling, and New Yorkers are famous for lots of things, bluntness not being the least amongst them.
What I liked about the storage unit advertisement was both how honestly it described the likely reality of one’s physical space limitations and how it embraced a positive mental attitude of arguably pretty grim physical constraints. It didn’t sugar coat the facts and yet it improved the context and offered to improve the environment.
People often ask me if I find my work depressing, and I often respond saying I find my work to be a privilege. I feel honored each time someone trusts me to help them navigate their journey, helping them move from vulnerability through growth and evolution. It begins with perspective, and attitude matters. Uncluttering mental space is a lot of what we do. Distilling the facts, explaining the law and giving context to improve the environment. Divorce and family restructuring is difficult, but so often what keeps someone from moving forward is the ability to have clarity of mind and enough knowledge to make reasoned decisions. The fact of a sad, tiny apartment (or a large honking house) will not immediately change, but what you do within that space (and within your mind) can very definitely change. As I recall the Chinese proverb that ‘A journey of a thousand Chinese miles starts beneath one’s feet’, more commonly translated as “Every journey begins with a single step”, I am reminded of what enormous courage and fortitude is required in taking that first difficult step. Along with that thought is my awareness of how taking that first step without a clear understanding of the landscape is rife with unforseen traps for the unwary. Easing the way and uncluttering the legal, financial and emotional space encompassed by your family is our goal at The Consilium Path.