This second Conversation from the Bookshelf arrives for anyone who’s ever felt like they’re juggling far too many balls - and wondering how on earth to keep them all in the air.
If you missed it the first conversation it explores “testing the water” from a different perspective.
In today’s conversation a stranger rushes in, a poem offers a shift, and suddenly the situation looks very different. If you’ve ever been overwhelmed by your own list, this one’s for you.
Before we step into today’s Conversation, a quick note from the Bookshelf itself: If you’re enjoying how metaphor opens new perspectives, you might love my upcoming masterclass taking place on 6th October for the Association of Business Poets - Harnessing the Power of Metaphor for Transformation. The shelves insist it’s exactly the kind of thing they approve of.
Juggling too many balls
“I've got too much to do," said the stranger, phone in one hand and a half-written list in the other, as they rushed through the bookshop towards the café on the mezzanine.
“At least you’re taking time to grab lunch,” said the Wellbeing book on the shelf next to them.
The stranger stopped in their tracks and didn’t quite know what to say - although after a little hesitation replied with, “lunch is on my list, and I know that if I go without it, that I drop even more of the balls I’m juggling.”
“Is that how you feel?” asked the book. “Like you’re juggling too many balls? It’s not something I can empathise about since books can’t juggle. However, metaphorically, I understand how you’re feeling.”
“Yes, by the time I get back to the office I bet there will be even more balls to add into the mix.”
“Whilst you wait in the queue for your lunch would you be open to reading a poem that might give you a different perspective?”
“At this point I’ll try anything.”
“It’s called Juggling too many balls,” the book said handing over a copy of the poem to the stranger to take with them whilst they stood in the queue.
Juggling Too Many Balls
How many balls can you juggle comfortably?
2, 3 or possibly 4?
And yet when we align with the saying
We're often imagining the impossible
8, 9, or even more
And then beating ourselves up for dropping them!
Unless you get paid for juggling balls
Unless you've honed the skill
You can't juggle more than 3 or 4
If the aim therefore is to juggle the balls
The question becomes
What do we do with the balls we're not juggling
How do we manage the balls?
Managing balls has different solutions
to trying to juggle more balls
Where to put the balls in the interim
Asking for help or delegating
Next time you hear yourself say "I'm juggling balls"
Why not change it to "I'm managing balls"
And notice what solution appears, because
The words you use really do have power
The stranger reread the poem a few times whilst they ate their lunch.
They exhaled, realising how long they’d been trying to keep everything in the air.
As they returned to work, they were eager to spend a few moments with the book before leaving the bookshop.
“It took me a little time to get into the zone of using a poem for insight – but I did like that poem. As soon as I started saying to myself that I was ‘managing’ balls instead of ‘juggling’ them it felt like a different situation altogether - with distinctly different next steps to take.”
“Yes, words have power,” replied the book. “I remember the author talking about a coaching session where another change of words made the difference from not knowing to knowing what to do. From memory I think it was changing ‘finding an answer’ to ‘looking for solutions’ and even went on to say that adding an adjective also helped i.e. ‘looking for innovative solutions.”
“That really requires me to notice when words are working against me,” added the stranger. “I can certainly see my use of ‘juggling balls’ has been describing the problem and not providing a solution. ‘Managing the balls’ shifts the responsibility, inviting me to consider what I can do differently.
“You know, I think my first next step will be to grab one of those leadership and management books whilst I’m here - because I realise I need to upwardly manage my boss – to help them understand that I’ve got already too much to do and can they please stop adding to my already full list.
“Now I think about it, I wonder if my boss knows how bad it is – because up until now I realise I’ve been the one trying to solve the problem – thinking I should be able to cope.”
“The author of the poem spoke about one person imagining the balls were Velcro - and putting all the Velcro balls on a board so that everybody could see the balls – i.e. they weren’t trying to catch every single one. The balls went into a sort of holding bay - that was the board - first, and they could then decide which ball to action - one at a time.”
“Yes, like putting all the plates you’re spinning on a plate rack first.”
As they heard this, all the books on the bookshelf waved their bookmarks in agreement.
Conversations from The Bookshelf
Short stories where books talk, poems think, and inner wisdom surfaces. A different stranger wanders in each time - perhaps one day it'll be you.
Conversations from The Bookshelf is a glimpse into the world of my forthcoming book, where one visitor's conversations with the shelves go much deeper.
#shortstory #poetry #ConversationsFromTheBookshelf #InnerWisdom
Frank Bolaji Irawo and I are delighted to have facilitated the masterclass for The Association of Business Poets on 6th October 2026. (Don't forget their next event which is the annual Poetry in business Conference 12/13th November 2026)
See below for some examples of metaphors in action, and also links to some of my poems. Although first, a little promotion about some exciting things going on in my work this autumn.
And details of my existing publications
Metaphor Fishing
Here's the script you went metaphor fishing with (just in case you'd like to use it with others).
I feel like I’m completely stuck in a rut at work.
I’ve been in the same role for six years and, although I keep telling myself I need to move on, I just seem to go round in circles. There’s never a good time to do anything about it.
Work is full-on. I’m juggling several projects, constantly chasing deadlines and trying to keep everyone happy. My manager keeps piling more onto my plate and I’m beginning to feel as if I’m running on empty. There’s so much going on that I really can’t see the wood for the trees anymore.
Part of me thinks I’m at a crossroads. I’d love to do something completely different, but I have a mortgage and two children at university, so I can’t just jump ship. I’ve looked at a few jobs, but nothing has really grabbed me.
I keep hoping I’ll turn a corner and things will become clearer. Perhaps I’m just waiting for the right opportunity to come along.
I know something needs to change. I just can’t see what my next step should be.
How the Brain Finds Meaning in Metaphor
Working With Metaphor
I don't want to repeat what we did during the workshop however you'll find some Suggestions about using metaphor in a coaching context in a blog written to accompany a soon to be released conversation on the subject of 'Why Am I Tired All the Time - see the Using the metaphor in your language to get new insight and a different perspective section of that blog.
Here's why I love using metaphor and why I avoid diving into the story and content of the situation.
A few examples of metaphors people use and the insights they get from the metaphor are shown below.
and some suggestions when you can't see the wood for the trees - solutions that after over 10 years of using the idiom we still find new solutions - for example - like looking behind you and realising there are no trees there.
My Poems
There's a playlist of some of my poems on my YouTube channel - here's some blogs sharing some of my often shared poems in group or 121 sessions some of which explore the metaphor mentioned.
You can keep in touch with what I'm up to by signing up for my newsletter or email me on alison@alisonsmith.co (yes just .co) or call me +44 (0)7770 538159 - you can find out more about what I do here too.
As a business poet and Rewilding business partner for SCOTLAND: The Big Picture I'm delighted to be able to share a poem I wrote summarising their rewilding conference held in Perth, Scotland recently.
As I worried that others may have taken different insights from each speaker I was reminded that that's what art is all about - our own unique expression of what we heard, saw or felt.
We then allow the reader to have their own relationship to the words - that is - once the poem has been set free - just like the seagrass, oysters, sea eagles, wild boar, bears, wolves or lynx we spoke of - who are we to try to domesticate them. Although, the wildfires we spoke of do we agreed need a firmer domesticated hand to manage them.
Before sharing my poem I'd like to share a few links in case you'd like to find out about my work:
Sometimes you know exactly what you need to do.
And sometimes you really don’t.
You might be juggling too many balls, going round in circles, unable to see the wood for the trees, facing a crossroads, or simply aware that something needs to change without knowing what that change might be.
That’s often where my work starts.
With something you don’t know what to do about.
For over 25 years, I’ve been helping individuals and organisations see situations differently - often by sending conventional and logical thinking on a coffee break and using metaphor, nature and, increasingly, poetry to uncover perspectives currently hidden from view.
The destination isn’t always known when we start.
That’s rather the point.
You don’t need to arrive with a clearly defined problem, a carefully worded objective or even an idea of what you need from me.
You might simply be saying:
Those words give us somewhere to start.
Because the language we use to describe a situation often contains far more information than we realise.
My work uses metaphor to help us step away from the story we’ve been telling ourselves and explore the situation differently.
If you’re juggling too many balls, for example,
Changing the metaphor can change what becomes possible.
Poetry can do something similar.
A poem can bypass the part of us that wants to analyse, justify and find the “right” answer. A few carefully chosen words or an unexpected image can provide a different vantage point from which something previously unseen suddenly becomes obvious.
Not because I’ve given you the answer.
Because you can now see your own.
Bring something you don’t know what to do about.
We’ll use metaphor, poetry and the tools I’ve developed over more than two decades to explore it from somewhere different.
Sometimes one conversation is all that’s needed. At other times it becomes part of a longer piece of work.
Sometimes a particular poem provides exactly the perspective needed.
Rather than talking endlessly about the situation, we use the poem as the starting point for a conversation and see where it takes us.
This is also the thinking behind Conversations from The Bookshelf - stories and poems that offer another way of seeing familiar situations.
For teams and organisations, I use metaphor and poetry to help people think, talk and work differently.
That might involve exploring a particular challenge, opening up a conversation that has become difficult, helping people see beyond familiar assumptions, or introducing metaphor as a practical tool for transformation.
Sometimes my role is not to help people find the words, but to listen carefully to the words already being spoken.
As a conference poet, I listen to presentations, meetings, conversations and themes emerging throughout an event and weave them into poetry that reflects something of the experience back to the people who created it.
It can capture not only what was said, but something of what was felt, noticed and perhaps left unsaid.
Not everything fits neatly into a box.
That suits me.
If you have an idea for using poetry, metaphor or a different way of thinking - at an event, within a team, in a conversation or somewhere I haven’t thought of yet - tell me about it.
In fact, you don't even need to know what the answer is.
That's my territory.
Come with the question, the confusion, the crossroads, the tangled web or the too-many-balls-in-the-air.
We can start there.
Do get in touch alison@alisonsmith.co (yes just .co) +44(0)7770 538159
Thank you for buying my illustrated poem - I'm really grateful for your support 🙏.
The majority of the poems I write start out as explorations of situations I want a different perspective about. They often start with my current thinking and then look to turn it on its head. Perhaps that's why they resonate - because I'm not alone in feeling like this.
I'm going to assume you're here because you're intrigued about what you could do with the poem to help you see the situation you're facing differently. Before I share some ideas there's a couple of things I'd like to say:
What Could You Do With The Poem?
The first thing to say is that there is no right or wrong way to use a poem. Although reading it a couple of times comes high up the list of suggestions - and saying it out loud can help too.
You might read it once, have enjoyed it and leave it there.
You might read it and let it percolate over the next few days and just see what comes to mind.
Which is what you're looking out for really - there's not a logical list of lessons or take away for any poem. There's just where the poem allows your thinking to go. I often say that metaphor and poems help us tap into our inner wisdom - so please don't discount a thought or feeling that arises as you read the poem - do please follow the tangents. Because it's those very tangents that will allow what's hidden to come into view.
Which is a great reminder that you could come back to the poem some time later and think you're reading a different poem - that's because you're resonating with different patterns within the poem - you have changed your thinking and so too your relationship with the words.
If a word stops you in your tracks stay with the word and allow it to fully share its secrets - what does the word want you to know?
Feel free to write, draw, highlight, circle phrases, add questions or reflections - ie do what ever makes the most sense for you - there's even a few notes pages at the back of the book too.
The words might invite you to write a poem for yourself or draw how you're feeling - the initial premise of the Beyond the Web poem was a series of drawings which helped me see the situation differently - adding the words a year later helped cement the insight.
Talking with others about their take aways from the poem can be really helpful too. I've run many workshops sharing one or a number of my poems and it never fails to amaze me the new insights I get - ie I may have written the poem but once it's released out into the world it has other meanings too. Just be careful others don't try to enforce their view of the poem on you - their perspective is just one view to add, or not, to your own. No right or wrong.
You could ask questions alone or in a group such as:
And if the poem has prompted a thought, a conversation or even another poem of your own, I'd love to hear about it alison@alisonsmith.co (yes just .co).
Want to Explore a Little Further?
In addition to the books listed below I've recently started Conversations From the Bookshelf - where books talk, poems think and inner wisdom surfaces. Where a poem and the conversation with a book helps a stranger to see the situation they're struggling with from a different point of view. Conversations to date include:
Poems published by Amazon worldwide include
Coming very soon
Other books published include
Don 't forget to be kept up to date with future poems, books and other products do sign up for my newsletter.
For over 25 years, I’ve been using nature, metaphor and the language we use to help people see the situations they’re facing differently.
Recently I’ve found myself wondering what might happen if I brought another longstanding love of mine into that mix - poetry.
And then, somehow, a Bookshelf appeared.
A Bookshelf where books talk, poems think and strangers arrive with something they’re grappling with.
So, over the next few months, I’m going to be testing the water with a series of Conversations from The Bookshelf.
And if you’ve been reading Landscaping Your Life for a while, don’t worry - I haven’t abandoned the landscape. You might just find we’re exploring it from a rather different vantage point.
And rather appropriately, our first stranger has a question:
“But will it actually work?”
Let’s find out…
“I just need to test the water,” said the stranger with a coffee cup in hand as they looked for inspiration from the business books on the bookshelf.
“I need to see whether what I want to do will actually work.”
“Great idea,” replied the book.
“But how do I do that?” asked the stranger not missing a beat.
“I've got plenty of suggestions,” said the book. “But I've been hearing a lot from the Poetry section recently about how poems can help people see situations differently. Would you be open to trying that?”
“How intriguing. Yes - let’s do that.”
“Here's a poem about the very thing you're grappling with. It's called Testing the Water. I usually recommend reading a poem more than once and noticing what stands out each time.”
“I just need to test the water,” said the stranger with a coffee cup in hand as they looked for inspiration from the business books on the bookshelf.
“I need to see whether what I want to do will actually work.”
“Great idea,” replied the book.
“But how do I do that?” asked the stranger not missing a beat.
“I've got plenty of suggestions,” said the book. “But I've been hearing a lot from the Poetry section recently about how poems can help people see situations differently. Would you be open to trying that?”
“How intriguing. Yes - let’s do that.”
“Here's a poem about the very thing you're grappling with. It's called Testing the Water. I usually recommend reading a poem more than once and noticing what stands out each time.”
Testing the Water
Take care when testing the water,
that you don't reinforce the belief you already have.
Testing for what you know,
in the places you know to look,
at the time you have available,
won't really bring the breakthrough you need.
Breakthrough comes by planning the time,
the place,
and criteria for testing.
Preparing yourself for that testing,
and what it requires of you,
and allowing time for the analysis of the answers.
So that you may expand the beliefs,
make the necessary changes to that which is being tested,
to allow for success instead of continued failure.
The stranger read the poem again, then sat quietly for a moment.
Eventually, they swore with recognition and then laughed.
“Guilty as charged.”
“In what way?” asked the book.
“I keep getting confirmation of what I think I already know. I don't think I've tested the water thoroughly enough.”
The book flexed its spine thoughtfully.
“The author of the poem described standing on a beach and realising that testing the water at high tide would give very different results from testing it at low tide.”
The stranger's eyes lit up.
“And different results at different times of day, month, or year.”
“Exactly,” replied the book. “That's where the planning comes in.”
“And that gives me my first step,” said the stranger, sounding far more energised than when they had first approached the bookshelf.
“I'm going to plan my testing so I explore the whole landscape rather than just testing at low tide on a warm summer's day as I have been doing to date.”
Conversations from The Bookshelf
Short stories where books talk, poems think, and inner wisdom surfaces. A different stranger wanders in each time - perhaps one day it'll be you.
Conversations from The Bookshelf is a glimpse into the world of my forthcoming book, where one visitor's conversations with the shelves go much deeper. #shortstory #poetry #ConversationsFromTheBookshelf #InnerWisdom
I'm smiling at the fact that I chose this poem for the first edition of this new newsletter because, of course, testing the water is exactly what I'm doing here. So, I'd love to know what you took from this first Conversation.
To get these conversations delivered to your inbox they're published do sign up for my newsletter .
You can find out about how to get the most from the poem here including a list of any new poems added to the collection.
I'm really very excited to say that my first illustrated poetry poem sharing the Beyond the Web poem with accompanying images is now available from Amazon worldwide - for Amazon.Co.UK and Amazon.Com follow the links - otherwise see your local Amazon site for details.
I originally drew a series of images to help me make sense of a situation I was feeling caught in - a year later I wrote the words shared in the book to go with the images.
To be updated as new poems get added to the collection do sign up for my newsletter.
There's a few topics discussed during the When You're Tired All the Time conversation from the bookshelf that, if you're wanting to try out some of the techniques for yourself, warrant a little more explanation - namely
This isn't a list you try to do everything about - pick an idea or suggestion that attracts you - do that one thing - and then come back to this list next time you want to try something different.
Your Prescription For Wellbeing Journal
You'll find our more advise for completing a prescription in the series of blogs written exploring each question asked in turn. Also where you can buy it too 🙂
Using the Metaphors in Your Language For Insight
There's a few different ways to use metaphors in your language to uncover new perspetives.
Explore the Metaphor
In essence you look to the patterns of the metaphor you're using to describe a situation for insight that can be applied to the current situation, for example
See links for blogs exploring the metaphors mentioned more.
Identify and Change the Metaphor
Here you take the metaphor to the next level by making changes to it - knowing you can always go back to the initial representation, eg
Draw or Collage the Metaphor
Drawing the metaphor can be hugely powerful - here's a few examples
Embody the Metaphor
This is my favourite - and one I do the most - in other words if you want to turn a corner go and find a corner to turn outside in nature and turn it. If you're at a crossroads go for a walk and notice what you notice about the decisions you make when you get to each crossroads. Or
Play With the Words Your Using
If life feels like an uphill struggle why not play lightly with the words
Might you therefore instead find it could be a:
This is a fun exercise with laughter and absurdity being the aim to shift your mindset.
Questioning the Story Your Telling
The key here is remembering the poem shared in the conversation - ie your truth is not the truth and neither is theirs.
I've written previously about there being 3 versions of the truth.
The key is being in conscious awareness of what you're saying and thinking - ie not falling back on auto pilot and old worn habits but making conscious decisions. I wrote a blog about the difference between zIGs that Inhibit Growth and zAGs that Accelerate Growth that provides some insight to the sorts of habitual and yet potentially unhelpful behaviours I'm talking about.
Other blogs that may be of interest here include
Try it For Yourself
Start with something you’re currently telling yourself about the situation. Write it down exactly as you’re saying it in your head. Then get curious:
You’re not trying to prove your story wrong or pretend that your experience isn’t real. You’re simply investigating whether it’s the whole story.
Other Snippets
I've written a number of blogs that might also help depending on what you're grappling with:
What Attracted Your Attention?
You don’t need to try all of these. In fact, please don’t.
Which idea made you stop, smile, disagree, feel curious or think “I might try that”?
Start there.
There is a particular kind of stuck that doesn't look like stuck from the outside.
You are functioning. Getting through the day. Showing up to the meeting, replying to the email, walking the dog, holding it all together. By most measures, things are fine.
But something still feels off.
I notice this a lot in the conversations I have with people considering coaching. They arrive with an apology, as though they should be coping better, as though needing to think something through means there is something wrong with them.
There isn't.
You don't need fixing. You may just need perspective.
Over twenty-five years of working with people through the Landscaping Your Life approach, I've noticed the same handful of patterns coming up again and again. They are not signs of dysfunction. They are signs that something in your current way of looking at the situation has run out of road.
So, here are seven of them.
You are moving. The diary is full. Nothing is on fire. And yet there is a sense that something is not aligned. It is hard to name and easy to ignore. But it doesn't go away.
In other words, this isn't a problem to solve. It is information to listen to.
By now, you have turned the situation over in your mind so many times you could draw a diagram of it. Pros and cons were weighed. The conversations rehearsed in your head. And still, no clarity arrives.
That's not insight. That's going round in circles.
The harder you think, the tighter the circle gets. Logic is a wonderful tool, but it cannot solve every problem, and it is particularly poor at solving the ones it created in the first place.
A well-meaning friend offers a suggestion, and you feel your shoulders tense. Someone tells you what they would do, and you find yourself wanting to argue. You are not ungrateful, nor are you being difficult.
You don't need advice. What you need is space to think.
There is a difference between someone telling you what to do and someone helping you hear what you already know. The first kind closes doors. The second opens them.
The things that used to flow now feel like wading through treacle. The work that used to energise you takes twice as much out of you. You are tired in a way that sleep doesn't quite touch.
That's not laziness. It's usually a signal.
After all, nature does not push a flower into bloom. The seasons do not strain themselves. When everything feels like effort, it is rarely because you are not trying hard enough. More often, you are trying hard at the wrong thing.
When you describe the situation, you find yourself listing all the reasons nothing can change. The deadlines. Other people. History. Expectations. Risks.
You are too close to the situation. Options hide in plain sight when we stand too near to them.
This is the moment where stepping back, even for a single conversation, changes what you can see.
Something or someone is asking you to choose. You know a decision is needed. You also know that any of the options on the table feels wrong, or rushed, or not quite yours.
Sometimes the next step is not choosing. It is seeing differently.
When the options on offer all feel like the wrong fit, it is often because the question has been framed too narrowly. Widen the frame and a different option appears, often one that wasn't on the original list at all.
This is one of the most common places people arrive at when they get in touch with me. They are not in crisis. Nothing is falling apart. Simply, they are aware that the current shape of things isn't quite right, and they cannot yet see what wants to be different.
This is often the moment before insight arrives, not after.
The not-knowing is not a sign that something is wrong. It is the necessary pause before the next step makes itself clear.
If you recognise yourself in any of those seven, none of them means there is something wrong with you. They mean that the situation you are in has outgrown the way you have been looking at it.
That is not a fault. That is how landscapes work. The view from inside the wood is different from the view from the edge of it. Standing in the trees, you cannot see the shape of the wood you are in. Step out, even briefly, and the shape reveals itself.
That is what coaching is for, in my view. Not to fix you. Not to tell you what to do. Simply to help you see what is currently hidden.
I work with people in many different ways. Some come for an ongoing series of sessions. Some come for a Landscaping Your Life walk in the woods or by the sea. Many come for a single session, look at their situation from somewhere new, and find that is all they needed.
One conversation. No fixing required.
If something here feels familiar, a single conversation may be all that is needed. The aim isn't to fix you or to tell you what to do. Just to help you see what is currently hidden
To find out what a one-to-one session with me involves, get in touch at Alison@alisonsmith.co or WhatsApp +44 (0) 7770 538159.
When someone tells me they are stuck, I listen for the metaphor before I listen for the detail.
The detail is rarely the way through. Half the time, the detail is what is keeping the situation stuck in the first place. But the metaphor, the everyday phrase the person reaches for to describe how it feels, is almost always a clue.
"I'm going round in circles."
"It feels like an uphill struggle."
"I'm talking to a brick wall."
"I can't see the wood for the trees."
"I'm at a crossroads."
We use these phrases so casually that we forget they are pictures. And once you start to look at the picture rather than the situation, something interesting happens. The picture begins to tell you what to do next.
Here are five everyday metaphors I hear often, and what each one is really telling you.
The insight in this one is simple. You are expending energy without making any progress.
The temptation, when we notice we are circling, is to think harder, try harder, push more energy into the same loop. It rarely works. The harder you push, the smoother the circle's path becomes.
So, the question is not how to push harder. It is how to interrupt the pattern.
A few useful prompts:
Interrupting the pattern is what matters. A related idiom, drawing a line in the sand, can also help. That one asks you to walk away and not look back.
Find out more about circling here.
The insight here is that effort is front and centre. You are working hard. Probably too hard.
What this metaphor rarely tells you on the surface, but almost always reveals on a second look, is that the top is often very close. That is precisely why the climb feels like a struggle now. The early part of the hill was steady. The summit is where the gradient steepens. So the struggle is not a sign of failure. It is often a sign of being nearly there.
Useful questions:
Sometimes the answer to that last question is no. The hill is not yours. Or it is yours, but not for this season. Putting the boulder down for a while is not giving up. It is being honest about which hill is worth your energy.
There is a poem for this one too, called Pushing the same boulder up the same hill.
The insight in this one is important. The person is not actually a wall. It just feels like there is a wall between you.
When we say someone is a brick wall, we are usually frustrated. We have tried to be heard. We have tried to explain. They have not shifted, and so we have built a wall in our mind where, in fact, there is a person.
The question then is not how to break through the wall. It is whose wall is it, and how can it come down a brick at a time?
A few prompts:
We often blame the other person for building it. And yet we usually have the ability to take it down, even one brick at a time.
There is a poem for this one, called Talking to the brick wall. Find out more here.
This is the phrase that gave my book its title, so it is one I have sat with for a long time. The insight is that you are getting distracted by the trees and the paths.
You are inside the wood. The bark and branches are in front of you. A couple of paths lead off in different directions. What you cannot see, from where you are standing, is the shape of the wood itself.
The wood is often outside the wood. At the other side of it. The way to see it is rarely to look harder at what is in front of you. It is to move, even slightly, to a place where the wood can be seen as a whole.
Useful questions:
And no half paths. No going halfway down one route and changing your mind. That depletes you and gets you nowhere.
There are several poems for this metaphor, plus the book of the same name. You can get a copy of my book here.
The insight here is that the choice feels heavy. There is a sense that the wrong turn will cost something significant, so the energy is all going into the deciding rather than the doing.
But often, when we slow down and look at the crossroads itself, the question changes. It is not always about which path. It is sometimes about whether to choose at all, or about something else entirely.
A few useful questions:
Often, the answer to that last question is yes. All paths get you there. The real question then becomes how you want to travel, not which path you must pick.
Sometimes, too, we think we are at a crossroads when in fact we are somewhere else entirely. A corner to turn. A dead end. Or going round in circles, spotting crossroads as we pass them, each one looking like a decision, none of them really being one.
There is a poem for this one, called At a crossroads.
The five idioms above are not unique. There are many others. What they all share is that they bypass the part of the mind that wants to argue with itself, and they speak directly to the part of the mind that already knows.
That is why metaphors matter.
They bypass overthinking. Defensiveness drops. Options appear that logic was hiding.
So they are not decoration. They are information.
When I work with people, I often spend the first part of a conversation simply listening for the metaphor they reach for without realising. Once we have it, we have something to work with. Not the situation, which is usually a tangle. The picture underneath the situation, which is almost always cleaner, and almost always pointing somewhere useful.
You do not need to commit to a long programme of work to get the benefit of this. The metaphor you are already using is doing most of the work. A single conversation, looking at it from the outside, is often all that is needed to see what it is trying to tell you.
Choose the one you are already using. See what it is trying to tell you. If something here resonates, one session may be enough to help things move again.
To find out what a one-to-one session with me involves, get in touch at Alison@alisonsmith.co or WhatsApp +44 (0) 7770 538159.
