Beyond the basement

This issue is the scourge of our modern age. The way we zone out, live on autopilot or spend all our time lamenting either the future or the past, instead of what's unfolding right before our eyes. Here's my take on what could be going on, as I explore this phenomenon through improvisation and authentic relating. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or...

Hi. I'm a beginner. By that I mean curious, enthusiastic, a learner, playful. I don't have everything sussed out. Would you want to be any other way? The world seems to expect that though - flawless experts who get things right first time, every time. I see it in politics, industry and other walks of life. This was prompted by soon launching my own improv/authentic relating inspired workshops, and...

Hope you don't mind me nudging the podcast into edgier territory but here we go... Some reflections on my experiences of the great leveller, what it revealed to me about life, myself and others. We'll also go deeper into expectations and responsibility too, what motivates us and who you truly are when things turn bleak. There's hope too. Recorded on the anniversary of my mum's death, Dorothy Kenwo...

At the beginning of most days I check-in with myself by wondering who's showing up inside - urges, desires, feelings sensations and mental preoccupations. We call these our parts, and getting to know them, helping them feel seen and heard, is undoubtedly one of the most helpful practices I have for feeling more present, happier and hopeful about the day ahead. I explore all this, how I do it and w...

I could be way off here - drawing parallels between substance abuse, and that urge to perpetually do and make, that drives people like us. But maybe there's something to this. The fact is that excessive productivity and progress destroys relationships and wellbeing, just like any other compulsive behaviour. What do you reckon? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other...

One of my favourite improv principles, and one those of us with a tendency to pragmatism and practicality, would do well to remember. This one's all about gravitating towards that which makes life worth living, when we're faced with choices about what to do next and how to do it. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, vis...

When you're neither in nor out on the day ahead, it's possible to kind of halfheartedly do all the things, instead of committing your attention to one thing deserving of it, or checking out altogether because you need some R&R. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chriskenworthy.substack.com

It could be a faceless voice, all cynical and nit-picky about everything that’s wrong. Maybe it’s a fully fleshed out character in your mind’s eye - a haughty, enthroned judge sat above everyone and everything, passing its uninvited verdicts. Do you have one? Or two? Three? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chr...

Some days, events, arbitrary points in time come with emotional baggage. For me it's Mondays, a heaviness, a melancholic sigh, and the dread of expectation. Which is totally at odds with reality. This one's all about the emotional undercurrents that, if we're not aware of, can rule us. Here's how I'm working with Mondays, after years of resistance. This is a public episode. If you would like to di...

When a DIY job begins to turn sour, Chris gets his 1000th lesson in knowing when to back away because he's hungry/angry/lonely/tired. This one's all about feeling into our tendency to get swept along with the relentless, forward motion of productivity. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chriskenworthy.substack.c...

I've landed home after ALL the adventures during June and July. Yet fun and joy and can bleed into one long conveyor belt of stuff coming at you, much like the obligations and responsibilities of day-to-day life. Even when you're supposed to be having fun, it can be tricky to savour the here-and-now. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access t...

Love? Kindness? Hugs? Well they'd certainly help but I think there's a more pragmatic option too - human connection. What does that even mean though? And how do you get more of it when so much seems to get in the way? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chriskenworthy.substack.com

"When we fail to prioritise the things we should, it is often because the dominant instinct takes more than its fair share." - this quote from Cicci Lyckow Bäckman might just explain why we sometimes avoid or distract ourselves from getting round to those things we should do, and would probably enjoy doing or which would make our lives easier. But what are our core instinctive drives? What is goin...

Here's a timeless struggle I hear in coaching - what gets in the way of just being content with the way things are instead of feeling tense and irritated by it (or how things COULD be different). Join me on a ramble through the French countryside as we ponder the paradoxes of the human condition. How tres Français. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers...

We've all got behaviours, habits, characteristics about ourselves we'd like to change. How do you react when they show up? With regret, shame, anger? What if that's like abandoning yourself... This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chriskenworthy.substack.com

Ever avoid or distract yourself from complicated, seemingly huge jobs because there's too many unknowns? Here's what could be going on. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chriskenworthy.substack.com

This morning I woke up with a start. To a memory of one of the scariest scenes I've ever played. And it wasn't even improv. Here are some reflections from the front line of terror. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chriskenworthy.substack.com

Do you wave longingly as guests depart, or shut the door and get on with life? Do you race from one thing without finishing the other? After a long weekend's improv retreat, I chew over our tricky emotional relationship with transitions, thresholds and change. All while feeling a little tender myself. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access...

In all of us, there's a part forever scanning for evidence to confirm all our worst fears. And when it finds evidence, a story begins to play. What's yours? Here's mine and how I'm trying a different, kinder response... This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chriskenworthy.substack.com

A late night improv experience of being in a slug cult reminds me - that the big themes we wrestle with as humans; like confidence, creativity, resilience, honesty isn't stuff we can learn or be taught. Fundamental stuff like this is often innate, so perhaps it just needs to be remembered, unconditioned back to the surface, or whatever block it unlearned. This is a public episode. If you would lik...

Why revealing a little of what's really going on for you might be a smart move in tricky situations. Fresh from day one of the Maria Peters Improv retreat. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chriskenworthy.substack.com

It's quite natural for folk like us to drift through life accumulating responsibility, commitments and obligations. They fall into what I'm calling your sphere of influence (bit of nostalgia for GCSE Geography fans). Once they lad, each one of these 'things to do' becomes one more burden, for us doers, prone to feeling overburdened. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with...

Usually you're so up and on it, productive, because you love getting things done. But for some reason, today you just can't get going. You're forcing yourself to get through the day. Here's what might be going on. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chriskenworthy.substack.com

Here’s a guided technique to get to the core of what’s really bothering you, and then soothe yourself. Practiced frequently, it gets you clear on who you are and what you need. It’s a technique for personifying or imagining your emotions as parts within you - inner characters, influences, voices of authority that we accumulate throughout our life. Through this process we become aware of them, so t...

I have a theory about people like us. It's that how intensely we 'go at' something - how productive we are, correlates with the ensuing period of retreat. Or winter as I now call it. After a period of steady DIY and growing my business, winter came and then lingered. The frost was harder than I expected. Yet that's no bad thing. We can learn a lot, if only we can resist the temptation to get back...