A few weeks back I was complaining to Naomi Dunford from IttyBiz that I had reached a stage in my life where I was just middle aged frumpy, with no online persona or presence. Dull, boring. Wondering how I was ever going to add video or get any of the spark I know how to create offline through facilitating experiences. (In case you are wondering, she suggested audio so you don’t have to look at me).
Shortly afterward I was having coffee with a colleague. She was telling me about thinking about me as she read the chapter about the explorer brand in the book, The Hero and the Outlaw: Building Extraordinary Brands Through the Power of Archetypes . When she mentioned explorer, I realized it was so central to who I am and what I do that I couldn’t even see it. She reminded me perhaps there were parts I was forgetting about.
Now that I think about it, most of my prior businesses have had an explorer aspect to them. My first retail store was Quests End, a later one was Four Winds (bookstore specializing in healing, inspiration, and celebration). I created Soft Sculpture Environments (underwater scenes). My artwork often has themes of roots, doorways, passages.
It’s hard to imagine fully expressing the power of images through strictly audio. I figured I better start creating images to go with what I might want to talk about. That is how this new series of images and framing metaphor was born. This is the first image, the overview. I see it as describing the many paths we can take to explore the world. There are so many paths, it can be overwhelming if you don’t pick things to focus on.
I’m working on a small deck of images to be used in conjunction with a series of workbooks. I’m starting with these three areas; exploring me, my life, and my business. I can’t tell you all the details yet, since the images come first for me. I have been painting and capturing the visuals. I’m just starting to work on the words.
The Explorer Metaphor
I’ve been asking friends to help me explore the metaphor of exploration. I’m just fascinated by what they’re telling me. There has been a lot of talk about preparation. At first this surprised me, but as I thought about it, I realized it’s as big a part as the adventure itself. I’ve started to organize the various aspects of being an explorer into categories. I see a correlation to the three focus areas.
Exploring Me
- Qualities of explorers
- What motivates us to quest?
- Who do we hang out with?
Exploring My Life What it takes to prepare for a journey.
- How are we traveling?
- Who is going with us?
- What are we bringing with us?
- What do we want to bring back?
- What knowledge is required?
Exploring my Business How do we share what we have learned with the world?
- What gifts have we returned with that can be shared with others?
- How can we make the world a better place?
- How have we been changed?
- How can we guide others?
What else do you think about around Exploration and Explorers?
I’m gathering all sorts of ideas about explorers. Got any to share?


