Have you ever played the game where you look up at the clouds on a summer’s day, and find shapes in those clouds and create stories?  There are horses up there, for sure sometimes.  And angels, lions, birds, castles and grandads with beards, and whatever we want them to be.

But just imagine floating high up in the clouds, and if you were an animal or a bird, what would you like to be?

That’s a serious question.  Don’t think too hard about the answer, just go with your gut feeling.

Already I can almost hear you saying “Oh I’m not sure about this.....”

I can remember being asked that question in one of my training sessions.  But I acknowledge it’s perhaps not the usual type of question in your day.

But, what animal or bird would you be?

Once you’ve got your animal or bird.  Think of the characteristics, and see what you connect with.

I’ve had supervisors who had me imagine myself and a client, and then ask what animal or bird my client is and what I am in that relationship.

That’s certainly revealing and informative to the process.  It often enables a completely new insight into a situation, highlighting particular dynamics within an interaction or revealing new concepts to work with.

“Oh,” I hear you say, “but I couldn’t ask a client that!”

Why not?

I’ve asked any number of clients that question.  Not all of them connected with a sense of  creativity or transpersonal psychology.

Someone once told me she was a cat because she liked being looked after and stroked.  It gave me real insight into her character and her process.

So if you were an animal or bird, what would you be?

What does it feel like for you to be that animal or bird?  What about that image do you especially connect with?  What does that image say about you?

Dare to be creative.

(I’m an eagle, by the way.....)