Blah Blah Blah Jerry Stocking

People ask me about Jerry and I have a hard time giving the 30-second elevator summary of what he's all about. But just as I write this, I come to this conclusion: He's all about you. What do you want from your life? What do you want from yourself? What do you want from your relationships? He's brilliant at zoning in and helping you see your patterns--whatever they may be. He pulls your head out of the sand, or for some people, other places. He shines the light on those dark places that need healing. He . . . I need an auditory metaphor here . . . .

Anyway, I invited my old college friend, Anne, to Jerry's introductory talk on Friday night. During the break, we had a chance to talk and she just kept saying, "Wow. I get it!" She was even going to join for the weekend course. Jerry wanted to do a word-association exercise before we left for the evening and so he used Anne & another gal to demonstrate. It's all fun and games until someone gains awareness. She thought he was making fun of her response and nothing could convince her otherwise. I, being the lifelong friend I am, recognized this particular pattern. I called it "being present" for her . . . and turned my back. She's under the bus with Jerry. She'll be fine.

So there was a bit of dramedy with it all, and as we're walking to her car, I managed to calm her down a bit, but she said she was not coming back for the weekend. Blah blah blah she was embarrassed blah blah blah. And then. Then! She realized she'd left her coat. We walked back and couldn't get into the building. I said, "Perhaps this is the universe telling you that you need to come for the weekend." And . . . she did:

Sooooooup?

So she thought that Jerry was making fun of her for the way she said, "Soup." It was an old pattern of feeling embarrassed in school. No matter what anyone said, she was stuck there thinking we were all laughing at her. We weren't, but she couldn't see it. That's what happens when you get stuck; you don't have other ways of doing, being, seeing available to you. And then! It shifted, and she got it. Jerry is fond of saying, "Get it?" Yeah! What was also interesting about this interaction, was that there was a "Life Coach" who sided with Anne on Friday night and was reinforcing her reaction. Jerry later emailed her because she had been so concerned. He told her that Anne had joined for the weekend. As it turns out, she wasn't concerned about Anne. It was all the stuff it brought up in her. Isn't that interesting? We think an outside event did something to us, when really it was the catalyst for something inside us, already there.

Anne & I were looking forward to lunch that first day, so that we could catch up. And then! because it's Jerry, could we have a normal lunch? Hahahaha Of course not. But you'll have to wait til tomorrow to find out what happened. In the meantime, I will tell you this: guess what Anne had for lunch. That's right . . . soup.