This episode of the podcast features chapters 4 and 5 of Dancing the Tightrope. If you haven’t listened to the first 3 chapters, I suggest listening to those first. It will help make sense of what’s coming in these next few chapters.
When I listened back to Chapter 3, where I read the sidebar blog “Where’s My Choice Here?”, it was somewhat stunning to me that many of the threads that I pulled together for Dancing the Tightrope started well before the accident that lays the foundation for the book. I was already onto the themes of dealing with fear, adrenaline, pressure and uncertainty. In some ways, I had been bumping up against the glass ceiling of my beliefs; the pivotal fall from the horse offer me a way to shatter those beliefs if I chose to open myself up to seeing things in a new way.
What’s standing out for me in this process of creating an audio version of the book are the pivotal moments, where a seemingly innocuous choice created huge change. The small choice to go trail riding could have just as easily been the choice to give up horseback riding for good. The small choice to call Bruce could have just as easily been something I never got around to doing.
The choice to go back for a second visit to Bruce was both a mystery and a big damn deal. In the world of the way I had done things up to this point, that second visit would not have happened. Yet it did - in this new world I was discovering.
Chapter 4 talks about our second visit to Camden to understand what this somewhat strange approach to life, horses and learning to live in nature’s world was all about. Chapter 5 shows you where I began to use what I was learning – somewhat naively at the time. In fact, reading it back now sometimes feels like I’m reading someone else’s story.
In Chapter 5, I’m still deciding if I should ever get back on a horse – something that’s difficult to grasp, given that I’m riding all the time these days. Think about a decision you’ve made that now seems so obvious – or a decision you are grappling with that may someday become obvious. Maybe these chapters will help you sort through the risks and rewards with an improving mindset.
Topics
- Chapter Four: Failure is Not Failure at All 0:02
- Lynn introduces Chapter Four, focusing on the second visit to Camden and the new pony that catalyzed a change in Jen's mindset.
- Jen's initial skepticism and the impact of having Gail, a corporate friend, as a guinea pig for a session with Bruce.
- Bruce's repetitive phrases emphasizing the importance of mindset over the horse's actions.
- Lynn's personal reflection on her own experience with Bruce and the pony, drawing parallels to her own accident and patterns of behavior.
- The session with Gail and Jen, and the debrief on the porch, highlighting Bruce's approach to teaching and the pony's role in breaking down Jen's resistance.
- Chapter Five: Assessing Risk and Survival Mode 23:52
- Lynn discusses her initial reluctance to get back on a horse and her exposure to the horse world through friends and gallery visits.
- The concept of trail riding and the inherent risks involved, emphasizing the importance of preparation and mental tools.
- Lynn's personal journey of understanding the survival instincts of horses and the parallels to human survival instincts.
- The role of horses as teachers and the importance of non-verbal communication in building trust and understanding.
- Lynn's realization of the pressure gap and the need to develop mental tools to handle pressure and uncertainty effectively.