
This morning’s idea was to select a poem, covering up everything but the last line. Then we were challenged to write a response/continuation of this line and this would create the first line of our new poem. This process was then repeated for the second to last line onwards until a draft of a new poem was created. I chose The Road not Taken by Robert Frost as it is a classic and my all time favourite and this is the first draft of my new poem in its non-tarted up state!
It Chose Me
For I have not abandoned me,
The fearful and the pragmatists
I followed what felt most alive
Another lifetime on perhaps
And yet a knowing inner smile
The straight and narrow stifled me
I’d drifted off to unknown lands
In case conformity did call
A journey into the unknown
With head or heart should I decide?
There was indeed no better fit
Appealed like a fresh mystery
It called to me in verdant voice
There was a certain tempting edge
My feet excited as they roamed
A gnarly, crooked, bumpy route
But it was difficult to tell,
to get a feel for where I stood
Yet choices are a part of life
I knew there was a risk to take
The Road Not Taken
Robert Frost, 1874 – 1963
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
https://m.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/road-not-taken
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Published by Sam Allen Creative Coach
As well as being a poet, highly-sensitive being and self-confessed Crazy Cat Lady, I am a Creative Leadership Coach, Trainer and Team Coach with considerable experience in coaching clients in the Creative, Manufacturing, and Pharmaceutical sectors.
I specialise in helping individuals and teams to work past limiting beliefs, to think outside-of-the-box and to show up as conscious, inspiring and dynamic leaders. I am passionate about helping leaders to show up authentically and I design and co-lead bespoke Conscious Leadership programmes for FMCG organisations wishing to create opportunities for their employees to shine and truly maximise their potential.
In addition, I co-facilitate Happy Teams workshops, helping remote teams to build trust and connect to their strengths, purpose and vision in playful, creative and experiential ways.
A co-active coach with PCC accreditation from the ICF, I am also Leadership Circle Profile certified and ORSC trained. I graduated from the CTI Inner Leadership programme in February 2020 and know from firsthand experience what it means to do the deep, inner work needed for personal growth. I hold a BA in French and Drama and a PGCE in Modern Foreign Languages.
Throughout my coaching career I have empowered individuals to write books, make life-affirming career changes, overcome anxiety and to take giant leaps towards heightened self-realisation, increased authentic leadership presence and spiritual growth. An ex-lawyer and C-suite executive client recently shared that she had “never experienced anything so powerful” and that she is now able to “trust her truth”. One global client team leader reported being “touched, motivated, encouraged and brimming with energy” and another shared that his team was able to “demonstrate their creativity and really get behind their vision”.
My personal and team coaching style is playful, intuitive, somatic and compassionate. My workshop facilitation style is dynamic, inclusive, expressive and authentic and my 20 years experience as an international school educator and team leader have contributed to my ease in leading group facilitation.
My superpower is using my incredible intuition and sensitivity to see into people and challenge them in a powerfully courageous way. A prolific poet and podcaster, I live and breathe my own creativity and in turn inspire others to do the same View all posts by Sam Allen Creative Coach
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