Part 2 The Secret Pond Perspective™

See the video on YouTube or Substack!

The Secret Pond

is a metaphor for simple, joy-filled presence and soul-deep peace.

The Secret Pond Perspective

is a visualization tool for inner healing that helps us see our emotions and patterns more clearly so we can meet our hurt with love, calm our emotional waters, and create more space for contentment and peace.

Pond Speak 

The Secret Pond Glossary

• Water = emotion; water is often used to symbolize emotion because emotions behave like water.  It flows, shifts, deepens, surges, settles, and reflects. It can be calm, choppy or overwhelming.  When stirred up, it can be difficult to see clearly what is happening beneath the surface.

• Secret = our private inner world; the thoughts and feelings only we fully know

• Pond = the inner container that holds our capacity for peace, presence, and contentment Our pond holds our emotional waters. 

• Waves = triggers, trauma responses, and emotional overwhelm that can cause our emotional waters to become wavy, choppy, and sometimes rough

• Processing = taking the time to give emotions attention and expression so they can flow and move through.  Otherwise, emotions muddy the waters and often leave us in survival mode, causing us to tread rough water

• Self-reflection = the practice of looking into our own emotional waters, our pond, with honesty and awareness so we can recognize our feelings, patterns, choices, and responsibilities more clearly

• Mirrors = when our emotional waters calm enough for us to see what is reflected back through other people, relationships, patterns, and life itself

• Loops = repeating the same choices and reactions, thus creating the same outcomes.   Running laps around our pond on autopilot, in survival mode.                                                  

• Healing = calming our emotional waters so we become less reactive, see more clearly, and have more capacity for peace

• Ripples = the effects that move outward through our actions, choices, pain, healing, and relationships, reminding us that we live in connection and that what touches our life often touches many 

• Reflection = what becomes possible once our emotional waters have settled enough for us to look back on experiences, relationships, and ripple effects with more honesty and clarity

  
  

The goal is not perfectly filtered water.

The hope is clearer, calmer, authentically-you water.

Clear Water

Emotionally open; willingness to see what is beneath the surface

Calm Water

Emotional steadiness and contentment, allowing peace, presence, and joy to flow

While I’ve been working on myself for many years, in 2023 I had the realization that if I was  going to help kids be their best sELF through ELF365, then I needed to be the best version of mysELF.  For those that are new to ELF365, we help kids Exemplify Love and Friendship 365 days a year by learning to think like an ELF and be your best sELF. 

Remember the old adage, “Do as I say, not as I do”?  Yeah, well, we all know that doesn’t work.  Positive role modeling does, though.  But man, is it ever hard…because we’re human!!  So, the realization that I needed to be the best version of mysELF to help kids also made me think about other adults and how they might be struggling, too…

so, the important thing to remember is - life isn’t about perfection.  It’s about presence.    

If you had a “Grandad” in your life who made a difference for you,

I’d love to hear about it.

If you didn’t, well, then I am beyond grateful to have an outlet to share my Grandad with you.

Now that we’ve discussed The Secret Pond Perspective Glossary, or Pond Speak, as I like to call it, the next step is to discuss how we can put it to use.

In Part 3 of The Secret Pond Perspective, I’ll walk you through the guided visualization questions on the back of the SPP Quick Guide so you can start using

The Secret Pond Perspective when you feel sad, upset, overwhelmed, or simply

not at peace.

If you’d like you can go ahead and grab The Secret Pond Perspective Quick Guide-

it’s free on our member page. I highly recommend printing it on one sheet of paper front and back.

It’s always free to create an account on our website which also gives you access to every free resource currently available, with many more on the way.

Consider this your personal invitation to join our ELFolution! 

We’d absolutely love to have you!

And as Grandad always used to say,

“Now there’s some sense to that!”  

Until next time, wishing you much love and laughter,