There’s a wonderful scene in an old Ally McBeal episode that I love to refer to when talking about the SoulCollageĀ® Committee Suit.Ā If you’ve never seen it, Ally McBeal was a delightful comedy about a quirky lawyer and her life and loves in Boston in the 1990’s.Ā
In this scene, Ally is telling John Cage (another lawyer, even more idiosyncratic than Ally) about how a small dancing baby has been following her around.Ā This baby has been appearing to her at the strangest moments and it’s really starting to drive her crazy.Ā She has tried ignoring this imaginary baby, and she has even tried kick-boxing it out of her life, but it still continues to “haunt” her.
At this point, John tells her about a time in his life when he kept dreaming about his long-deceased aunt, who was insisting that he have tea with her.Ā
Ally is fascinated, because John’s problem sounds so similar to her own.Ā “So what did you do to stop the annoying dreams?” she asks.
“Simple,” John replies.Ā “I had tea with her.”
I think of this in relation to all of my own parts that make up my Inner Committee.Ā If there’s one that’s really pestering me for attention, then the very best thing for me to do is to sit down with it and listen.Ā Instead of ignoring it, orĀ trying to kick it away in frustration, I invite it in to my inner play room and have a little tea party with it.Ā
Putting It Into Practice
Take a moment to see if there are any dancing babies and/or long-deceased relatives following you around this week.Ā Or any other inner voices that are acting out and causing you bewildering moments of embarrassment.Ā
Instead of wishing it would go away, simply name it and then find some time to sit down with it.Ā
You can do this by making a SoulCollageĀ® card for it, or by asking it “Who are you?” and writing down its answers for a few minutes.