How I discovered diamonds and enjoy helping others to do the same
Diamonds are forever
I like nothing better than to encourage people to reimagine their lives from a different perspective by evoking the intuition as their accomplice. When we break away from the confines of the thinking mind, we uncover more of the life we are destined for and reveal the bright diamonds we already are.
The Intuitive Vision Board is my proprietary method for visioning the ‘what next?’. It reveals the patterns and trends that can put us into flow and locate where our next crop of diamonds lie.
To prepare your living environment to harvest diamonds I practice Feng Shui, aligning your outer space with your inner intentions to live a happy and fulfilled life.
However …. ‘diamonds don’t come easy’. And they take time to form. So when life appears to drag interminably slow and trouble and strife blocks every exit, you might recall Henry Kissinger’s words: “A diamond is a hunk of coal that did well under pressure.”
Culture
My diamond hunt began with studying Anthropology at Durham University. Considered a rare and fantastical thing to do at the time.
As anthropologists, we were taught to look for evidence in people’s behaviour. We learnt it’s not what people say or think that shapes a person, a society and a culture, it’s what they do that matters.
Corporate
From Anthropology I fell into marketing. I cut my teeth in a field that has been superseded by online shopping: mail order book clubs.
Four years later I volunteered for redundancy and, from the floor of my lounge, launched a direct marketing consultancy. By a remarkable stroke of luck combined with well-intentioned focus, the company became a multi-million pound business within 8 years, mostly with FTSE 100 clients as customers.
Still with my anthropological filter uppermost, the unspoken agendas driving the individuals and organisations attracted me the most. The not-so-obvious was where the diamonds could be found.
Mystery
Our marketing consultancy employed 15 people. We had beautiful offices and clients enjoyed visiting Bracknell, considered rural at the time, for a respite from London.
Staff behaviour still mystified me. We had good talent. Paid well. Invested in training. But I felt the organisation enjoyed only the tip of the iceberg in terms of what the team was capable of. I couldn’t find a way to liberate them from their assigned roles, despite talent profiling and coaching.
When I sold my share of the consultancy to start a family, this conundrum went with me. Eight years later I stumbled upon the answer while doing a Master’s degree. It is this solution I now offer to unlock the dormant potential in clients and uncover more diamonds lying in wait.
Living Mindfully
With marketing consultancy behind me, I was invited to a talk on Feng Shui. I’d never heard of the subject before and sat there thinking: “I have an instinct for this already”. I thought everyone moved the furniture around until they felt comfortable, even in hotel rooms. Apparently not.
People leave an ‘imprint’ on the space they occupy. From this imprint I can ‘read’ the culture of the people, the home or organisation. When this culture is at odds with their vision, I use Feng Shui methods to bring the environment into alignment.
Since sensitivity to energy is one of my diamonds, I became a Reiki Master too.
Dancing queen
Not long after my sea-change to Feng Shui, I found myself juggling parenting, homemaking and Feng Shui visits as a single Mum. To complicate matters further I bought a puppy.
To stay calm I started dancing again, which I’d begun age 4 as a ballerina and a tap-dancer wonder. I did a PGCE in Dance and began teaching creative dance to children and organic movement to adults.
My interest in the therapeutic value of dance-movement evolved into a Master’s Degree in Somatic Art Psychotherapy at the University of Chichester.
Invention
Towards the end of my studies I developed the Intuitive Vision Board – the creative tool I’d been looking for to unlock hidden potential in people and organisations to reveal more of their diamonds.
My method was put to the test big time when I found myself blindsided by life. Stuck destitute at a major crossroads, I turned to the Intuitive Vision Board to show me the way. That board was the catalyst to rescue me from the pit of despair, which I describe still with some awe in my book Awaken Your Intuitive Vision. I followed the pathway it presented and I have never looked back.
Mentors
I have a daily practice of ‘tuning in’ intuitively. My home and work space is always Feng Shui-friendly. And I make a new Intuitive Vision Board every year. Fortunate was I to have had wonderful teachers – notably Denise Linn (USA), Helen Poynor (UK), Miranda Tuffnell (UK), Claude Coldy (Italy), and Anna Halprin (USA).
Dr Jill Hayes was such an inspiration as my University tutor and once said: “What I respect about you the most Mary, is your capacity to stay true to your creative calling no matter the outer circumstances of your life.”
This has become my raison d’être – helping others stay true to their calling.
To remind them that when they find their real diamonds, they are forever.
