Adele the Alchemist: Navigate complex emotions like an artist
'That's the kind of artist I am. I dig deep and tell my stories.' - Adele
Have you heard Adele's new album?
It’s a masterclass in navigating high-stakes change.
As members of my Permission O’Clock Facebook Group may already know, I've been spellbound of late by her extraordinary album, 30.
Written in the process of her separation from her husband while navigating parenting her son Angelo, her lyrics - always charged, always raw - crackle with sadness, anger, loneliness, confusion and exhaustion.
And her words reach out to the parts of us, often hidden in shadows, that feel the same.
Aren't musicians amazing that way? Staying present with their pain long enough to express the beauty in it? And in doing so, offering us the gift of feeling less alone?
'My Little Love', a 70s groove tune punctuated with voicenotes recorded by Adele and 6-year-old Angelo, paints an honest picture of the love, guilt and confusion of learning to be someone's mother on the job, while trying to navigate terrible pain and loss.
It has brought me to tears several times.
'That's the kind of artist I am,' she says. 'I dig deep and tell my stories.'
Like so many artists before her, Adele calls writing and recording the album 'healing.' In interviews, she describes showing up every day with her loyal team to record 30, knowing that she was really only able to access her true feelings in that turbulent time through the creative process. They were too intense to encounter any other way.
In the artistic process she describes, I can see the hallmarks of the Three Walkways of Development that I offer my clients to bring about healing and fresh possibilities...
1) Self Awareness
Journalling, writing or voice-noting to yourself.
Naming, expressing, and eventually integrating difficult experiences, so that you can make powerful decisions, no longer hijacked by unresolved pain.
2) Embodied Practice
Showing up and doing something repeatedly, e.g. stretching, singing, practising a craft.
Cultivating greater skilfulness of mind and body, so that you can become more able to show up differently - more calmly, more decisively, more courageously - over time.
3) Enrolling Co-Conspirators
Intentionally sharing what you're up to with others who support your healing and self-expression.
Building a crew of loyal, truth-telling accomplices in your change, so that you can experience love and support when things get tough.
(BTW As your Coach, I count myself as Co-conspirator #1!)
So What Changed?
When asked by Tom Power, 'Are you a different person now than when you started the record?', Adele responded with some incredible treasures from the ashes...
'Yeah. I'm way calmer. I've learned to have a bit of patience in all areas. And I'm just sort of very chilled out in any scenario where I would normally be frazzled.
And I also won't do anything I don't want to do.
Like, at all. Ever again... I will always trust my intuition going forward.'
When we create conditions for ourselves to safely feel emotions, rather than push them down or wish them away, we can harness their power to change us. When working with a client, I offer them the conditions - the non-judgmental space, the reflective input and practices, the witnessing and encouragement - to be able to learn from and integrate difficult experiences.
Having committed to processing their emotions, my clients emerge more confident, more courageous and more able to support others going through challenging experiences, too.
Thank you Adele, my teacher.
For your music. For being a person who can hold painful experiences long enough to alchemise them into growth. And for sharing yourself so courageously with the world
May we all grow to be such people.
What transformation are you longing for?
Get in touch today and let’s explore how I can support you to flourish.
I’d love to be your Co-Conspirator #1.