“Erin, I have to tell you about an experience that I had,” he said.

“Yes, tell me, please,” I said with anticipation in my heart, knowing and feeling that this would be a large insight.

“My son was at a drama production, and the director of the program came out and spoke to the audience before the production started. The director said “ummm” multiple times during the introduction, and it was clear that she was uncomfortable in her skin,” he said.

“Yes, nice awareness,” I responded, knowing that there was more.

“Erin, she says “ummm” because she is uncomfortable. She said that because she doesn’t feel safe inside of who she is and her environment” he said with energy building inside of his voice. 

“Correct,” I said, sitting on the edge of my chair, knowing that he was going to process this experience at a higher level. 

“But, then, I noticed that a bunch of the children in the program that night said “ummmm.” Maybe those children already did that, or maybe they are modeling her behavior of feeling unsafe inside of themselves.” 

“Yes, you are spot on. Way to see this,” I said, wondering if he had more to process. 

“This is the thing, Erin. If these kids can learn from her behavior and her self-limiting thoughts and model them, they can also learn from confidence and empowerment. If these kids can learn the negative, they can also learn the positive. Whatever we embody in the world, other people can learn from, and it can have a positive impact on people,” he said. 

I left silence and allowed him to really soak in the experience that he was reflecting about. I noticed my hand was pressed against my heart as his words landed in my body. I was so happy for him; this was a huge awareness that would shift the way that he moved through the world. 

“Yeah, that is the thing, the way that we hold ourselves has an impact on people in our reality and we GET to choose the energy that we hold and embody. We GET to have a positive impact on the world”