If you Google the term walk about you get the following definition. 

A spiritual walkabout is a practice that involves being open to the world, being alone, and seeking a deeper break from routine. It can also be a time to let go of formal identity, balance the soul, and allow space for the unexpected. And more commonly - An Australian Aboriginal rite of passage that involves a journey into the outback to transition from youth to adulthood undergoing a spiritual transition. The past few years for me have been exactly this.

Yesterday was World Mental Health Day. From the amount of personal sharing flooding through my LinkedIn feed of people’s own experience with mental health struggles, I found it incredibly reassuring how far we’ve come in just a few years. How much better our workplaces will be because people are willing to lean into their vulnerabilities and shine a light on such a taboo subject, that so many of us suffer from.

Aside from sharing my own struggles with my mental health which I feel I’ve documented a lot, I wondered what my contribution to the discourse could be. Well here goes…

I think part of the reason we find change so difficult is our inability to properly grieve the things we leave behind. In fact I don’t think any of us really know how to grieve at all. It’s definitely not something that we’re taught, not in the western world anyway. After all, grief for most of us is primarily associated with death. Probably the most taboo subject of them all. The reality is there is always ‘a death’ of something, figuratively speaking, as we move through change.

I challenge you to find a company in the modern world who doesn't have some set of values defined for their business. Some are simply lists written sporadically on client-facing documents, and others have them proudly emblazoned everywhere for employees and customers to see.