I recently read all the Harry Potter books over the course of just a few months.
I have actively resisted reading any Harry Potter books or watching the subsequent films, for a very long time. A good friend recently asked why, when I told her I’d finally decided to step into the wizarding world.
The laughing face emoji suggests I am well aware how ridiculous what I’ve said, is. I was being honest though. I am stubborn and I baulk whenever I feel pressure to do what the masses are doing. Maybe it’s one way I keep a sense of my own identity as separate and unique to others. Maybe I prefer to see myself as some kind of connoisseur of the obscure and lesser known gems of the cultural world. Maybe I am also very very adept at self deception.
The reality is, I absolutely loved the Harry Potter books. I am an avid reader already and I love nothing more than time to rest with book in hand, the cat by my side for the evening wind down or a cup of tea steaming away as part of my morning ritual. The books took my imagination and provided a rich source of conversation with my partner’s children.
They were the springboard from which my resistance started to diminish. They talked so enthusiastically about the stories that I wondered why I didn’t just read them to see for myself. It has created a point of connection that matters to me and I see now how others’ love of the Harry Potter books is not just about the stories themselves but about the connection it creates with others who also love these same stories.
This post is not about Harry Potter, of course, but a reflection on how I got in my own way. Some unhelpful thought about myself and the nature of popular culture meant it was years before I experienced the utter joy of the Harry Potter stories. And this is despite how well I know my love of reading and of good stories!
Getting in our own way happens a lot. Sometimes I find it useful to ask a coachee
what’s getting in the way?
and more often than not, it is themselves. So we start to unpick these thoughts, feelings, beliefs and see what’s left behind. It can be quite an “unsticking” moment as people realise they can just choose to do something differently. It may sound a simple process but simple doesn’t mean easy. So part of coaching is then to keep trying out differently responses, ways of being and acting until it becomes more natural and you start seeing the kind of results that make you as happy as a coach reading Harry Potter for the first time.
