Episode Six - Take Courage
‘Once I got to Europe that was it. I felt like I was coming back to older roots than the roots I was born with. My grandparents came from Europe, and although if they were alive, they would have thought it horrible that I'd left the New World to return to the old one. But I was…that was the right direction for me’.
Karyn Prentice
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Karyn Prentice left her childhood roots in Los Angeles to study in Paris after being unexpectedly orphaned at the age of sixteen when intuitively she knew would never return to live in America. Her adopted homes of Normandy and Cambridge now offer the space and place to live and breathe with the natural ebb and flow of the five seasons. She encourages us to awaken our senses through the additional season of ‘Late Summer’ based on Chinese Medicine and Native American wisdom which brings additional depth, richness and metaphors into our lives.
True elder in the last quarter of her life Karyn reflects on the bold desert nature of her youth that held her grief, her life long love affair with Paris and invitation to ‘Take Courage’ based on the beer adverts that captivated her attention during her first visit to England. We trace her professional journey training as a transpersonal psychotherapist and coach in the early 90s, influenced by the work of Dr Susie Orbach and the decision to take her practice outdoors to embrace creativity, awe and wonder.
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Listen here.
About
Karyn was born in the United States and left there to move to Paris. She has been living and working in the UK and Europe ever since. She has run her own learning and development consultancy since 1995 and has worked with corporate businesses in the UK and abroad as well as with not-for-profit organisations and in higher education. She has been a coach for 25 years and a coaching supervisor since 2008, working in French and English.
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Her book ‘Nature’s Way, Designing the life you want through the lens of nature and the five seasons’ (2020) draws upon the huge resource and inspiration of nature for many years bringing discovery and learning to the coaching and supervision arena with creative approaches and restorative practices. She has delivered ‘Nature’s Way’ workshops to international audiences evoking the seasons as a metaphor for creative thinking and soulful well-being .
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Karyn collaborates regularly with fellow creative Elaine Patterson. Their deep and richly varied programmes: ‘Cultivating and Choreographing the Rich Tapestry of Wholehearted Creativity’ and ‘Bridging the Unknown form Role Work to Soul Calling in Later Life ‘ draw participants from many parts of the world.
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Website: www.fletcherprentice.com
Insights
Bewitched by the novel… Who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes and the door she opened into ancient tales and the role of storyteller in creating campfire listening.
Inspired by the quote... ‘Do you have the patience to wait until your mud settles and the water is clear? Can you remain unmoving until the right action arises by itself?’ by Lao Tzu.
Self-described relationship with nature… Co-nurturing buddies.
Favourite pastimes… Setting off for a long walk with my dog Gracie with perhaps a pub or café at the other end, using my hands for crafting something, writing as a regular appointment with myself and reading.
Behind the scenes... Gracie incognito in the lake District September sunshine.
