I am a Tornado
“My one word for you is tornado.”
That’s all she said to me, my Kolbe A coach Charity Mongrain, after reviewing the results with me.
I remember looking at her quizzically.
“A tornado?”
“Yes.”
“I need to think about that.”
And think about it, I did.
Weeks went by and I wondered if I might be getting closer to understanding.
Then one Friday night, I woke up around 2am and had an epiphany. I had already written out a story about change with a graphic illustration created by my friend Sarah. This was originally developed with leaders in mind. But what if I turned it into a children’s book — you know, the kind kids love to read but the insights are even bigger for their adults. Maybe I should turn my other fiction book idea into a children’s book. Maybe it could be a series…
I got up, wrote it down and happened to share some of this with my publisher friend.
She responded with an “Ooh yes!” and then called me “Tammy the Tornado”.
Then later that day I ended up writing a completely different children’s story…from start to finish.
I sent her a follow up note.
She only responded with just this emoji: 😂
Then it sank in.
I am a tornado.
The ideas start to fill my mind and I can feel my inspiration kicking in. I have my feet on the ground but my head is somewhere in the clouds.
I begin writing, furiously. In fact, sometimes I can’t write fast enough. It’s like lightning going off inside my head, each strike sparking a new thought or a new idea.
During this time, I am focused, clear and calm; I ignore everything around me.
I will share my excitement with others sporadically and I wonder if I am making them exhausted.
Like every tornado, this never lasts for long. A few hours at most.
What does last are the effects of it all. I will have content in some form or another which makes me feel like I have accomplished something.
I will then need a couple of days to recover. These sessions take a lot out of me. I become a sloth — skilled at energy saving and efficient movement.
I have no idea when the ideas and inspiration will come again though.
All I know is this has been happening more and more of late.
It’s like I have unlocked some source of creativity.
The key will be to harness that creativity in a way which doesn’t damage those around me.
Tammy Brimner is a writer, professional photographer and leadership consultant with a passion for leadership development and improved organizational culture stemming from over 25 years working in a large, complex and multifaceted organization. She is also a Certified Organizational Coach, an aspiring author, singer/songwriter, a fair weather golfer, and a cyclist.
Follow Tammy on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/tammy-brimner
