Welcome to the Power of Whim!

We touch upon the magical and the unknowable.

We can only pay attention – 

and decide if we’ll act!

– Gail Conrad

OPENING:
Hello all you Vanguards & Visionaries, Innovators & Rule-Breakers!

So glad you landed here today!

Here we explore the creative and metaphysical, the link between consciousness and invention, so—let’s break some boundaries, turn things upside down & use the chaos to create in a whole new way!

And if you haven’t already, join my Wildscape Adventures list.

For going forward, this podcast will happen intermittently.

It might be recorded, other times written, or other times, popping up as a workshop, to which you all will be invited to join.

So check out info at the end of this episode.

And do sign up! It’s the only way for you to know what’s coming next.

You can do this on my website: gailconrad.com. That’s:
https://gailconrad.com

And now—here we go!

(OPENING continues, with MUSIC:)

Hello and welcome to the Wildscape Podcast, sharing tales of stepping into the unknown to create more art, beauty, and magic in your life. I’m your host, Gail Conrad, and today you’re listening to:

POWER OF WHIM
—

Narrative 1:

Sometimes, we must work and focus incredibly hard to do what we want to do, create what we want to create.

Narrative 2:

In this story, things just happen. Appear to magically synchronize or manifest, without any heavy or even intentional effort of our own.

Ever think of how some of the best things have happened to you in your life?

To answer that, I say—let’s explore Narrative 2.

A few months ago, beginning of summer, I hear my body talking, yes—even rebelling, saying—it wants time off, not the same routine. In fact, it just wants to wander and not tell me ahead of time where it’s going to take me next.

I admit, I have a few ambitious plans lined up, but—they get nixed—don’t happen.

I can’t seem to act on them while my body’s saying No Way.

In truth, I’ll be more specific about this inner rebellion. The part of my body talking is my heart.

And what does my heart want?

Well—for starters, it wants time out. Wants to drift.

Still, this turns out not to include the usual summer fare of lying on a beach, or of catching a film.

No, the communications get more specific:

Get out of the house, keep moving, and find people to talk to that you don’t know.

So instead of staying inside writing and recording, or simply making plans to go out with friends, I find myself leaving the house at different times each day, taking spur of the moment excursions, sometimes pretending that I’m a traveler in a foreign land.

And as I play with this, walking or rather meandering, and having off-the-cuff exchanges with people I run into or pass, I begin to feel my energy lightening, expanding. I’m having fun, and sudden kernels of ideas come to me of what I might do next.

I call this my Summer of Small Pleasures, of wandering, allowing myself the time and space to sense anew what captures my imagination now.

And this leads me to today’s adventure, what I call:

The Power of Whim.

So hello everyone, and welcome to this episode!

Let’s tap into a touch of magic –and imagine something sparkly and fun. For today we’re going to spotlight a new sort of energetic signal, again, what I call:

The Power of Whim.

Now at first glance –
These two words, POWER and WHIM, might not seem like such a natural pair.

But if I ask you, again:

What are some of the best things that ever happened to you in your life?

And – how did they happen?

Does this give you a hint?

For think about it:

In many of the old screwball films, and in some of the best comedies of today, the plotline goes as follows:

Main character is supposed to do one thing:

Say, marry this person, or take this prestigious job, or go away on this particular trip, or…you fill in the blank, but –

What happens?

Suddenly, they get a desire or an idea, to do something completely different, unexpected, often illogical, and even eccentric—not what they imagined they would do at all.

On a whim, they end up on a houseboat floating down the Mississippi, instead of on a plane to London for their annual family affair, or instead of accepting that high-profile marketing job, they waltz into a brewery that’s for sale and decide to buy it for the town.

Or, say—they plan to go to the gym after work, but instead, end up at a meet-up for animal activists, where they not only come away two kitties, but have a conversation that changes their life.

One of my favorite old Hollywood screwball films, the 1936 My Man Godfrey, opens with a wealthy group of socialites on a scavenger hunt.

I’ll just add, who and what they find—what they call, a forgotten man, plays on this theme of whim and more.

And don’t we just love stories that touch on the magical, the unexpected, and where life does not seem to be carved in stone?

They give us hope that wild, wonderful things can happen to us too, and the truth is, often they do, when we open to the Power of Whim.

So, what do I mean?

Well, think about the expression: acting with whimsey.

It signifies a light, playful, energy, a spontaneous energy.

You might do something just because you suddenly want to, with no pre-existing agenda or expectation of what it means and how it will turn out.

Most critically, because you have no pre-existing agenda, you don’t worry about the outcome. You are open and receptive to whatever might happen next.

So what might happen, if you act on the Power of a Whim?

Yeah—I’m back to that power part. For certainly, on a whim, you could decide you want to go out for pancakes, instead of eating at home. Or on a whim, you might suddenly feel like shoe shopping, instead of relentlessly studying for an exam.

These examples, alone, hardly signal a volcanic change. But what if—while drifting around a store, relieved that you’re taking a break, you begin to calm down from the pressure of studying, and that’s when you stumble into someone you met, say—three years ago.

You chat, and you laugh. A year later, your lives are intimately entwined.

We don’t, of course, follow every whim, and I’m not advocating that we should, especially one that you know or sense, might be destructive or inflict harm.

But this aside,

How can you best tap into its energy?

The secret:

Your heart leads the way.

For a whim is never a thought-out process. It’s as it hits us and bypasses the rational mind, and plugs straight into the heart.

Still, you can’t force the heart, so you can’t force a whim.

You might wonder, then:

How do I practice this?

I have a suggestion. See how it works for you:

For one week, at any moment, when you’re not sure what to do—ask your heart.

Allow yourself to ask in a light-hearted, playful way.

Don’t censor the answer. Just “catch” what instantly comes back.

Sometimes, I begin by noting simple things:

Want to go out? Want to stay in?

What do I feel like doing now?

Perhaps someone suddenly comes to mind.

Want to contact them?

Or maybe you flash on an event that’s happening.

Do you feel a sudden urge to attend?

A title of a post might strike you of something you’d like to do, somewhere you’d like to go, or a picture might unexpectedly float across your mind.

I have a friend who came across an online photo of a remote town in Spain. Next thing I know—she’s travelling there!

One thing to know:
A whim lives in the present.

It beckons you to act now, not to labor or ponder over it like some future-orientated 5-year plan.

It’s personal.

Can feel like your heart is talking, sending a sparkly instant message but remember—this message can disappear as quickly as it appeared.

That’s why you want to catch it. Otherwise, a whim can be as fleeting as a dream.

So, if you’re at a crossroads, or beginning a new phase of your life, or if these last few months have felt heavy or you’ve been working over-time, with not enough play and exhaustion has set in –

Think of where you might be led to, who you might meet, or what you might engage in with this open and creative energy.

Under its effect, what quality of communication might you have?

I’ll return to my Summer of Small Pleasures:

During those months of, on a whim, wandering out my door and talking to those who I would pass by and meet, I met some spectacular people; had a few pivotal conversations.

And I wonder:
What if, I hadn’t acted on that whim that day?

Hadn’t walked down that specific street? Never bumped into that extraordinary person?

It’s like asking, what if –

You didn’t follow that whim?

Didn’t, for example, stroll into that park, plop down on one of those kids’ swings, and while swinging up and down, meet your next collaborator, or even—the love of your life?

Would you have met them, anyway? 

It’s one of those mysteries—where our consciousness, and the mystery of time, space, and synchronicity align.

We touch upon the magical and the unknowable.

We can only pay attention and decide if we’ll act.

I invite you – to catch the whim!

Thank you.
—

And I want to say, that along with my regular coaching offerings, I’ll be designating a certain number of “pay-what -you-can” sessions on a sliding scale, giving discounts to artists, activists, and others of you who might be unemployed, or simply struggling to meet basic needs.

I’ll have the form up shortly on the coaching page of my website.https://gailconrad.com/

And remember, going forward, this podcast will be intermittent, but – you’ll find its stories and topics linked to new workshops, articles, and more.

So stay tuned, and do join my Wildscape Adventures list.

The form’s also on my website, gailconrad.com. That’s https://gailconrad.com/

It’s the best way for us to stay in touch.

I’m Gail Conrad, your host of the Wildscape Podcast. The opening music is by Chip Barrow.

And as always, thank you so much everyone for listening.

Bye for now.

I invite you –
to catch the whim!