Client Spotlight: Dr. Clarissa Hughes

“The more things change…

With the dramatic and unexpected changes to daily life, each of us is experiencing altered reality.  Some of us may find themselves in a comfortable pause; time to reflect, prioritize, and listen to backlogged Audible credits.  Others of us finish each day without stabbing someone and call it good.

As a professor trying to remotely navigate displaced students and Zoom-deficient faculty, a psychologist trying to provide empathy for those who just need to successfully get through the day (see stabbing comment above), and as a wife, mother, and daughter whose family members’ upheavals add to list of my own, I have my own flavor of stress during this time.  And one thing that has emerged with clarity is that the best comfort for me right now is the part of life that hasn’t changed…and this is Giulia.

Giulia’s coaching and friendship, at its core, is pure authenticity.  Whether we are physically in the same space or miles apart, it will take more than a devastating global pandemic with catastrophic societal destruction to break beyond bending.  I can absolutely count on and predict her comments:  Giulia will simultaneously motivate me to work harder, give me permission to not work harder, yell at me about something unrelated, and make me laugh.  I cannot overstate the value of knowing that my life has a touchpoint of long-standing consistency.  Her focus on my overall health and wellness has kept me in the range of overall health and wellness, even though self-care somedays is ranked well below Eat Cadbury Egg.

So even in the midst of, well, everything, I have gratitude for my relationship with Giulia.  In times of crisis, some people crumble,  others step up.  Giulia has stepped up.

Did I just say STEP UP?  Yeah, don’t really miss those.” – Dr. Carlissa Hughes, Coaching by G client