About Me — Trisha Lewis
I unsquashed myself when I turned 60.
I could start all swishy by shouting about my TEDx talk, book and podcast…
But…
What fed these creations?
Welcome to a human ‘unsquashing’ story.
It is relevant to say that I am well into my 60s when writing this.
I’m a late developer.
I graduated from Uni at 46 years old.
I set up my communication coaching business at 59.
I wrote my book when I was 63.
Stood on the TEDx red circle at 64.
Took up climbing at 65.
I am a role model for the hashtag ‘NeverTooOld’!
What took me so long?
It took me a long time to realise I was ‘self-squashing’.
In a nutshell, I was weirdly scared of being ‘me’ in case it was too much.
As a school kid, I veered from ‘shy’ to ‘class clown’.
As a teenager, I lived my life through the fantasy world of love songs and magazines. Being heartbroken and subsumed were much more exciting than pursuing my own thing!
Talking of ‘fantasy’… (don’t panic)…
I always loved a good costume.
As a kid, I had a glorious dressing up box. I had a highly active imagination.
I got into amateur dramatics. My first roles were an apparition in Macbeth and a fairy in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Great costumes.
At 17, I left all that acting stuff behind to go and act out some life roles.
But, it still felt like ‘acting’.
After a lot of ‘windy road’ living…
Dear Reader — I put on my acting shoes again.
After some richly rewarding am-dram years, I turned professional with a tour of a self-penned one-woman play.
I was 35.
Was this the moment I stepped into my ‘unsquashed’ self?
No!
I was still all over the place — not acknowledging my achievements and struggling with my personal life.
So what unlocked the ‘me’ on that TEDx stage? How did I have the courage to write my quirky business book and build my coaching business? How did I activate my mojo?
Self-awareness work.
Healing work.
Finding my tribe.
Believing that the man I met at the grand old age of 45 loved me — for me.
Cute!
I have always been drawn to taking leaps of faith in life — but I frequently leapt into places I should have leapt back out of!
The ‘steadiness’ came when I started to believe in myself — corny but true.
And here is the word that I created when I was in my 60s:
Self-Squashing.
My Medium writing will put all the self-belief ‘squashers’ on the forensics table.
I talk about spotting the FIBs that hold us back.
Fears, illusions and baggage.
I talk about using your ‘detective mindset’.
I have an alter ego called ‘Investigator Lewis’.
What informs my writing?
Well — all the stuff above plus:
My love of research. (My bookshelves are laden.)
People watching. (Coffee and discreet observation — I love!)
Conversations with clients and connections.
My life!
Did you spot the ‘climbing’ reference earlier?
Yes! I ripped off the ‘non-sporty wimpish about heights’ label at 65!
Acting and climbing are full of transferable learning to be shared — and I will be!
Stay curious and unsquashed x
Trisha
What is ‘self squashing’ — and are you doing it?
Have a rummage through my resources :
Book — The Mystery of the Squashed Self.
TEDx — Beware the Prophecy of the Squashed Self
Podcast — Self Belief Unsquashed
Let’s get to know each other on socials:
