More TC Conroy

“I feel like I can close that chapter of my life and try to absorb that lesson and apply it to my life moving forward. It feels amazing, actually”.

CK – Artsit

 

Meeting TC:

Saturday afternoon at last rolled around.  It was a sunny and hot Saturday afternoon, unsurprising in Los Angeles.

I’m not generally a person who gets nervous at first meetings.  I feel like I make a good impression.  I’m great with parents, fabulous at interviews.  I don’t generally carry pre-conceived judgments about people, and I generally like people on first impression (sometimes to my detriment).  I was excited to meet TC after hearing so much about her and feeling sure that she was the one person right now who could really get my life on fast track to where I wanted it to be.  Still, it’s always a little bit unnerving to meet someone who is so famous for what they do, and, according to Jess, a real ass-kicker.  Although our phone conversation had been warm and laid back, I still had an image in my mind of TC as some sort of female, picture-perfect Terminator.

Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised, and relieved, to walk into her office to find calming zen fountains, a comfortable sofa and chairs, and the room painted in darker, calming tones, with lamps in the corners for atmospheric but not intrusive light.  TC herself was sat behind her desk as we walked in and jumped up to welcome us.  She was smaller and slimmer than I imagined, but even warmer and friendlier than my impression of her had been over the phone.  She was even wearing fantastic heels, “for my sake, I knew you’d appreciate them,” she said.  My lingering image of her as the Terminator vanished.  She seemed achievement oriented, yet down-to-earth at the same time.  I immediately felt like she was someone I could connect to.

Jess left to wait for me outside and TC invited me to make myself comfortable on the sofa.  “Help yourself to bottles of water, or anything you want,” she said, and we immediately plunged into conversation.  I told her about my frustrations with trying to fight the passivity I’d inherited from my mom, but despite my resistance, feeling like the passivity was still winning.  What could I do? I was so eager to change.

“It won’t take you long at all to beat this, Camille,” is what TC told me.  “Do you know why it won’t take you long? Because you want to change it.”

This gave me a lot of hope.  I have always believed that attitude and mental awareness is the key to changing anything in life.  But it’s always nice to hear your life coach verify your feelings.

We talked about everything, from my mother’s 50’s housewife passivity to my verbally abusive ex-husband, to my father’s stroke last year that led me to give up my life and take care of him full time until just recently when I had caregivers set up enough to start taking over for me.  There wasn’t a clock in two and a half hours of her time! I felt so comfortable talking, I probably could have gone on all afternoon.  Again, as she had on the phone, TC gave me excellent guidance, so I never rambled off-topic.  She also introduced our first concept for me to think about.  Boundaries.

Tune in next week to hear how Camille applies what she learns in her coaching sessions.