Higher Ground Leadership® Practicum Project

I expect that the main concept for this blog site will change over time as I change and my interests change.  For now, the main reason I started this blog is to write about and share my journey for the next four months.  I am currently a life coach with a CVACC designation who is well on my way to receiving my CVPCC designation.  I would love to coach people who have had traumatic starts in life similar to mine.  In order to serve that segment effectively I chose to explore and understand my own past first.

With that in mind, I decided to study Higher Ground Leadership® through The Secretan Center.  In order to achieve certification I am required to complete a Practicum Project.  Part of my Practicum Project is to write the first draft of my memoir, Footprints On My Soul, implementing the Castle Principles® and the Spirit@Work Cards® into my writing.

This blog is also part of my Practicum Project and will be used to share my experiences twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays.

Castle is an acronym for:  Courage – Authenticity – Service – Truthfulness – Love – Effectiveness.  This is how I’m planning on using them to guide me.  (Taken directly my Practicum Proposal.)

Courage:  It will take a tremendous amount of courage to write the book, Footprints On My Soul, and to blog about the experience.

Authenticity:  I want my Soul, and the person I have become, to be felt throughout the book and by my readers of my blog.

Service:  To inspire the readers to see that peacefulness, kindness, and respectfulness, are possible regardless of the situation.

Truthfulness:  To accept and share my truth of living a traumatic childhood and how it has affected me as an adult.

Love:  To remember to always love myself through this journey and to believe that I am worthy of love.

Effectiveness:  To embark on this journey daily, and to realize and accept that there will be days when it will be difficult.

The Spirit@Work Cards® will be drawn twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays and will be used as an inspiration for writing the book.  What they meant to me and how they affected my writing will be the main focus of my blogs.

I drew three cards to guide me in the overall feel of my book.  The first card, Flow, represents my past.  This card held so much emotion and was very thought provoking.  If I were to pick one line that spoke the most to me, it would be: “I sit quietly and listen to my Soul.”  For me, the challenge is going to be looking at my past in a way that soothes my Soul and allows me to remain true to the person that I am.

The second card, Infusion, represents the present.  It was surprisingly perfect for me and fit exactly what I’m doing right now!  The sentences that resonated with me the most and were almost prayer-like were:  “Let me live authentically.  Let love circulate through my being And become one with all that I am.  May my thoughts, my words, my feelings, and my actions Be totally infused with love.”  It is important to me that this book is written from the heart, with heart.  It is not about hurting people.  It is about sharing my childhood truthfully and compassionately from the heart.

The third card, Respect, represents the future.  I found the meaning of this card to be quite interesting and appropriate.  The entire poem that goes with the card touched me deeply.  The sentence I’ve chosen to share in this post was part of the card description.  “We cannot receive the outer rewards without first doing the inner work.”  An affirmation that I’ve chosen the right path in order to become the masterful coach that I strive to become.

Higher Ground Leadership Principles®, the Spirit@Work Cards®, and the Castle Principles® are registered trademarks of the Secretan Center.