The Emergence of Awake8
Friends and Colleagues,
Over the summer I got an itch to do something different. So, I did for myself what I do for others. I assembled an exceptional support system to help me navigate some important changes. After 30 years of working in a variety of settings as a coach, educator and a provider of spiritual care and grief support for hospices and other health care programs, I decided to cut back my hours working for hospice to making room for a vision close to my heart:
Guiding more people to become awake
to the delicious wisdom, perspectives and tools
that I’ve gathered while working
with the dying and professionals in career transitions.
How do we not waste another minute of our lives? How do we set our hearts upon the meaningful pathways discovered during the magic of being present to the courageous individuals facing the greatest transition of all? How do we apply the lessons born from being present to death to ALL of our lives transitions? How do we apply these lessons to our life sooner, rather than later?
When I was first invited to work with a corporation outside of the health care field, clients in workshops and during one-on-one coaching sessions would get very wide eyed when I would simply observe the obvious, “I’ve not sat with anyone at the end of life who wished that they had worked more hours and made more money. Their regrets are often simple things like, ‘I wish I had taken my wife on that trip that she wanted to Graceland.’”
The 8 Pathways to Purpose have been emerging after I walked through a very intense time of transition over ten years ago. Over the years, I had worked as a coach for leaders and professionals around their career transitions as I also worked part-time for hospice and grief centers. As I passed through an intense season of change as my own career and life were being re-arranged, wisdom from working both in hospice and with career transitions became integrated in my own bones and heart. I now think of this painful chapter as earning a graduate degree in what I call “The Cosmology of Change.” When every fiber of your being is stretched, you somehow access everything that you need. I was incredibly well-resourced. The tools I had came from having been a guide over the decades for others walking through many different types of transitions. Gratefully, I had every tool that I needed to recover and thrive.
I’m now expanding my private practice to give more people access to these tools in a framework that I invite you to explore with me in the coming year called, Awake8: The Eight Pathways to Purpose. When you are recovering from a painful experience or proactively pausing to prepare for the next season of your life, something magical occurs: Nature rises up to give us what you need if you have the perspective to harvest those gifts.
To be clear, I am not a therapist. My private practice is designed to work as a guide to established leaders, emerging professionals and for causes of organizations that are all committed to what I call a “21st Century Spirituality.” Together, we will blend what modern science has learned from neuroscience about high performance with the best of time-tested tools used by the wise women and wise men who are our ancestors. If you need other resources like finding a therapist or guides with other expertise I may consult on how you find these people or make referrals.
Awake8 is my own unique integration of what I’ve learned from a dual career as both a career coach and a hospice chaplain. I invite you to become curious and to participate in the free e-mail updates that we will review through the Eight Pathways to Purpose in the coming months. These e-mails will also keep you updated on deeper ways to participate in programs and coaching sessions that I’m offering.
I’m also available to offer you a brief free consult to see if you want to work with me as a coach, customize a 90-minute remote retreat or support you in creating an engaging experience for you and the people in your life who you support. Whether you are seeking support for just you or are creating a formational experience for your associates, I’d like to hear from you. During this free consult*, we will explore your vision for your work and life.
Are you interested in becoming more awake to the innate clarity, joy and purpose within your own heart?
Patrick Davis MA
Founder Awake8