One Step at a Time

Everywhere I turn these days, I seem to find a coach exhorting people to break big goals into manageable chunks.  I am probably not encountering such messages any more frequently than usual, but I interpret my awareness of the advice as a sign that I need to pay attention.

I am no stranger to this advice. The power of incremental progress is part of the wisdom of InterPlay. I wrote about Incrementality and InterPlay in my first blog post of the year on New Year’s resolutions. Is this the year I play deeply with taking baby steps and start embodying what I know intellectually about the power of small steps?  It is starting to look like it might be.  And that would be a good thing.

I have been wearing this necklace almost every day recently:

‘Incrementality’

from The InterPlay Principles “Zelda” Collection by Anita Bondi

 

I love this necklace.  The text is a message to my intellect that progress builds upon itself.  The clock image reminds my imagination both that time is passing and that I have time. The unmoving clock hands symbolize that Now is the only time I have. As I move, the three pieces shake against each other, creating an audible reminder that I am wearing the necklace.  And, the edge of the pressed silver and the stone offer a texture that I love to touch. Unlike some of my other jewelry, I don’t forget what I am wearing when I wear this necklace.

I smile when I think that this necklace is part of Anita’s “Zelda” collection.  My favorite form in InterPlay practice is known as a DT3 or a Zelda.  This improvisational form is to dance for a period of time, then talk for a period of time, then dance, then talk, then dance, then talk.  Honoring the separate wisdoms of movement and words as part of a whole is a profoundly centering practice for me. In this form more than any other InterPlay practice, I experience the reality that my intellect and my creative spirit are both integral aspects of my being.

Part of the power of the Zelda form is that the movement and the words are performed sequentially.  There are other InterPlay forms that involve multitasking, moving and speaking at the same time.  In a DT3, you singletask: dance or talk, one step at a time.  The whole is larger than the sum of its parts. The dance influences the talk, which influences the dance, but they remain separate.  Each task is discrete. The whole is a composite.

I use my necklace as a reminder not only that incremental steps will get me where I want to go, but also as a reminder that there is power in singletasking.  One step at a time. Keep the projects separate. Take small steps in each. Just keep going. Celebrate the journey.  And keep going.

One step at a time.

I wonder where I’ll get to.