The Bee, the Sunflower and the Seedling

For Twelve days this Christmas we decided to publish twelve stories. These stories are metaphors told by participants on our NLP Practitioner Course as part of their weekend on Metaphor, Milton and Changing and Adapting.

Most of these people thought they couldn’t write a story, in fact some of them start the weekend muttering ‘I can’t do this’ – well enjoy........

Present State: Subject repeatedly focuses on "stuff" and "things" (cooking, cleaning, work, washing, ironing all elicited) rather than people (namely husband, daughter and time for herself).
 

Desired State: To be able to have quality time with husband, daughter and for herself and to enjoy this time rather than always be thinking about the stuff/things that need to be done.

Beatrice the Bumble Bee

Beatrice the Bumble Bee was a very busy bee indeed. She thrived on being busy as she flew from one flower to the next picking up her load of pollen, returning to the hive and ensuring that the hive was well maintained, all the while a voice in her head saying “I’m a busy bee, I’m a busy bee, no time for me.” Although over time the flowers had become her friends she no longer had time to stop and talk to them anymore. Beatrice Bee while thriving on her daily routine of business, or so she thought, knew that there were other things in her life that needed her attention too – she had enjoyed the company and conversation the flowers gave her and in particular there was a Sunflower she was very fond of, in love with in fact, as well as a little Seedling that she and the Sunflower had been watching, looking after and nurturing ever since it had sprouted its young seedling head up through the soil close by and into the warm summer air. Occasionally, after a hard days buzzing and flying about from here to there and when Beatrice found a few moments to herself before sleeping she would become aware of the voice saying to her “I’m a busy bee, I’m a busy bee, no time for me” and wondered what it would be like to stop the voice… even for a moment, turn it down at least or even change what the voice was saying… before she drifted off into sleep. In the morning, Beatrice would wake up forgetting that she had ever wondered what it would be like if the voice was not so loud or said something different to her. As Beatrice resumed her duties and flew from flower to flower keeping busy with no time to stop she was unaware that this was making her unhappy and as time went by she began to slow down, weighed down not by the heavy loads of pollen she was carrying but the weight of her sadness that she had “no time for me”. A time came though when during her busy schedule that she re-visited her friend the Sunflower and the young Seedling again. She was amazed at how well they both were doing and how well they looked. Delighted to see them looking so well and genuinely pleased to see them again she made the time to stop and ask them their secret. Also very pleased to see her too, the Sunflower and Seedling explained that their contentedness and good health had been reached with the help of a kind Gardener that had been tending to them, nurturing them and talking to them, re-affirming daily that they were doing well and that with patience and time as well as enjoying the moment they would grow strong and be happy and content. Conscious that the needs of the hive were calling Beatrice she bid the Sunflower and Seedling a fond farewell and continued on with her busy day. While remaining busy her unconscious mind processed what the Gardener had said to the Sunflower and Seedling and as it did this she began to realise that although she was busy and useful, this did not meet her needs and that she really wished to be spending more time with the Sunflower and Seedling that she loved and missed so dearly. That night when Beatrice went to bed, the few moments she had to herself before falling asleep she decided this time to change her mantra “I’m a busy bee, I’m a busy bee but I make time for ME!” J