A while ago I was in a meeting with one of my mentors and we were talking about a number of different things that were happening in my life.\u00a0\u00a0 As I was sharing, I apparently included a few phrases that included:
\n\u201c\u2026..who I am.\u201d
\n\u201c\u2026.my true self.\u201d
\n\u201c\u2026.reflecting who I am.\u201d
\nThen out of the blue she asked me, \u201cWho are you?\u201d
\nA bit caught off guard, I replied, \u201cWhat?\u201d
\nAgain she said, \u201cWho are you?\u201d
\nI laughed.
\nNot my normal thundering \u201cI-don\u2019t-care-how-obnoxious-I-sound\u201d laugh.\u00a0 No, this laugh was my \u201cI\u2019m-kind-of-feeling-uncomfortable\u201d laugh.\u00a0 The \u201clet\u2019s-move-onto-another-subject\u201d laugh.
\nIt\u2019s my space filler laugh.<\/em>
\nPeople who know me well and are willing to challenge me, call me out on this laugh.\u00a0 My mentor knows me well, so she called me out on it.
\n\u201cI\u2019m serious. Tell me Kathryn, who are you?\u201d
\nFeeling a little off track from the flow of our original conversation (and mildly annoyed with my discomfort) I quickly answered, \u201cWell, I am my son\u2019s mom. I\u2019m an entrepreneur. I\u2026\u201d
\nInterrupting again she challenged me.\u00a0 \u201cGet out of your head.\u00a0 This is important. Close your eyes and sit with it.\u00a0 Allows the words to come to you.\u00a0 Don\u2019t force it.\u201d
\nSigh!
\nThen she asked me again in a soft voice, \u201cWho are you?\u201d
\nI took a deep breath.\u00a0 By now my smile had subsided.\u00a0 I knew this question wasn\u2019t going away.\u00a0 It couldn\u2019t go away.\u00a0 I agreed with her, it was important.\u00a0 It was a question that needed to be answered, not for her benefit, but for mine.
\nThe question lingered\u2026.
\nWho are you?<\/em>
\nShe waited patiently for my response.\u00a0 Just like a seasoned business negotiator, she asked the question and didn\u2019t say another word.
\nI closed my eyes. I took another deep breath, exhaled, and sat in the stillness.\u00a0 I shut down the chatter in my mind and allowed space to open up.
\nThen\u2026
\nI was still.
\nI was quiet.
\nI was clear.
\nWithin a few moments the visual appeared on my mind\u2019s blank canvas.
\nI saw my tree.
\nThe tree that started out as the logo for Natural Kidz, and then evolved to be the tree that brands and binds all of my businesses, the businesses that I love and invest my work energy into.
\nI saw my tree.<\/em>
\nThe multi colored tree that has ultimately come to represent\u2026me<\/em>.
\nI am the tree.<\/em>
\nGrounded.
\nSturdy.
\nFlexible.
\nGrowing.
\nNurturing.
\nColorful.
\nColorful!<\/em>
\nMoisture gathered behind my eyelids and a small smile formed.\u00a0 Breaking the silence at the appropriate moment, she asked me, \u201cWhat is your smile saying?\u201d
\nI smiled wider, opened my eyes, and with a confident voice I spoke the words that had come to me when I saw the tree appear in my mind\u2019s eye.
\nI said, \u201cI am wildly colorful!<\/em>\u201d
\nShe smiled and nodded with confirmation of my breakthrough.\u00a0 Oh yes! \u00a0Now, I was indeed out of my head and into my heart. I took a deep breath and continued with the self-defining statements that were flowing out of me.
\nI am wildly colorful.<\/em><\/strong>
\nI am compassionate.<\/em><\/strong>
\nI am courageous.<\/em><\/strong>
\nI am a great mom.<\/em><\/strong>
\nI felt good. I felt centered. I felt clear.
\nI drove home in silence feeling peacefully rooted in the acknowledgement of experiencing my true nature as colorful me.
\nMy true nature is not first<\/em> defined by my roles.\u00a0 When I am asked to describe myself, I often respond with my roles, as I did when the question was first asked.\u00a0 And while I am proud and honored to be my son\u2019s mommy, my own boss, and the many other roles I occupy.\u00a0 I realize that it is in being wildly colorful that I am able to shine as the magnificent spiritual being that I am<\/em>.
\nLater when I was driving home, I recall laughing out loud as I wondered what if at the next dinner party or moment of introduction, when asked a question that requires an answer of \u201cI am,\u201d I may just have to say:
\n\u201cHello. I am Kathryn.\u00a0 I am wildly colorful!\u201d
\nHow is that for an ice breaker?
\nSo\u2026 I raise the question to you. When you sit with yourself in quiet space and you get out of your head<\/em> and into your heart<\/em>, how do you answer the question…
\nWho are you?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A while ago I was in a meeting with one of my mentors and we were talking about a number of different things that were happening in my life.\u00a0\u00a0 As I was sharing, I apparently included a few phrases that included: \u201c\u2026..who I am.\u201d \u201c\u2026.my true self.\u201d \u201c\u2026.reflecting who I am.\u201d Then out of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1709,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n