By Carolyn Campbell
As transformative professionals, writers, healers, consultants, speakers, and coaches, the value of your work can seem elusive at times. When the self-doubt creeps in, the client flow slows, or others don’t seem to ‘get’ what you do, you may be tempted to question your own impact.
To that, I want to say this: the ripples are far bigger, softer and deeper than you might ever know. When you are guided by your passion and serving a greater vision, your work will change lives in ways you can’t even imagine.
This week, I had the extremely powerful opportunity to present the 2010 St. Mary’s Academy Lifetime Achievement Award to my high school theater teacher.
Thirty-five years ago, I was a timid junior at yet another new school. (I attended eleven schools in eleven years!) Since all the elective classes were full, I was cast into the drama class with Sister Ignatia Ann. In a period of personal turmoil, she became a beacon. She was passionate and enthusiastic. She broke all the rules of what I believed a nun, a woman and a teacher should be. She taught high school theater the way professionals direct seasoned actors, treating us as if we were at the height of our careers and expecting us to bring our best to the experience.
By the time I left the school, I had discovered that theater was my calling. The most curious part is that she never really ‘knew’ me well. I was only in her class for seven months before my family moved across the country. In that brief time, she showed me a way of being in the world that influenced my life’s work…and still inspires me today.
By the time I returned to Portland, she had long since left the sisterhood and retired. I reconnected with St. Mary’s and helped develop their mentorship program. Last month, when St. Mary’s asked me to present her with this year’s Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement, I asked if they would prefer to have a protégée speak about her. They said no, they’d like me to do it. Wow! What an honor!
There I stood, at the podium before more than 200 people. Sister Ignatia Ann (now Nancy Moore) is 80 years old, a former nun and a tell-it-like-it-is woman who not only inspired my love of theater, but also showed me…and thousands of other students…how to LIVE with compelling conviction.
I have often wondered: if I met her again, would she still be my hero? Did I, in my adolescent search for guidance, put her on a pedestal? Would my illusions, or delusions, be broken if I sat with her again, this time as an adult? As I listened to her speak about her work as a teacher and as a creator, I confirmed that she is STILL MY HERO. As she spoke, I realized that she still represents what I want to be.
Here’s why:
1. She is inspired and inspires those around her to be the best they can be.
2. She shares her knowledge with unconditional generosity.
3. She is ‘her’, unabashedly ‘her’, in all her eccentricities and ‘-isms’, without apology.
She began her acceptance speech by stating that she came to thank us, her colleagues and students, for teaching her about life. You could feel the room just sink in, wanting to hear more. This amazing, gifted, loving, demanding woman was thanking us! We felt as one. We were being invited into a land filled with the magic and the rigor of love.
She talked about her experiences with all those who shared in the journey of her work. As she did, I was transported back to her classroom 35 years ago. (Oh my, how time has flown!) She would teach through story. She would guide through experience. She would challenge you to go and find out more. She would never coddle or hand feed. No, indeed! She expected that you would bring your best, for yourself and for all involved. She was demanding of excellence, and determined to transcend adversity…because that is the way to be.
Finally, what makes her so unforgettable is that she doesn’t try to be anything but herself. She has such faith in her convictions and such conviction in her passions that she has no reason to mince words. She calls it like she sees it. In one moment, she was talking about theater in New York. Then, as an aside, she commented, “Those lights really should have lavender gels. They would feel so much softer.” You could feel that everyone in the room wanted to race down to the theater and get the ‘right’ light filters. She simply inspires others to work toward her vision…in everything.
She doesn’t try to filter her connection to please others. Instead, she brings people together to share a common connection. As I drove home that night, I thought…that is the trinity of transformation—inspiration, information and unfiltered truth.
May my own life be filled with such conviction and compassion
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Carolyn Campbell has more than 30 years’ experience working with non-profit and for-profit businesses. In creative and connecting ways, Carolyn melds her expertise in community outreach, education and business development to help clients expand their reach and increase their impact…using their unique approach to life. Her areas of specialty include leadership, visioning, outreach and community building.