Ep. 19: Plunging Into The Depths

In this episode of Finding Forgiveness with Susan Gibson, Susan explores the profound journey of descent and reemergence, examining how far one must fall before beginning to rise again. She outlines three pivotal moments where she recognized her descent and saw the potential for transformation during this process. Reflecting on how the COVID pandemic opened her eyes to an ongoing descent and the start of her reemergence, she acknowledges that two truths can coexist: a continuing descent and a subsequent reemergence. Susan invites listeners to share their stories. If this scenario strikes a chord with you, tune into this episode of Finding Forgiveness: A Family Fairy Tale.

 

IN THIS EPISODE:

• [0:35] Susan reveals her exploration into how far down you descend before you hit bottom, and she has experienced 13 different life-changing losses

• [2:20] Susan outlines three of her life-changing losses

• [6:06] Controlling destiny and allowing transformation and descent at the same time

• [13:40] The opening of the universe with Susan’s new life partner and forgiving her mother, but refusing to go deeper

• [22:04] COVID opened Susan’s eyes to the continuing descent and the start of reemergence

• [26:21] Therapy with a Jungian psychoanalyst into the heroine’s journey

• [28:39] Susan recommends two fictional books she highly recommends and would love to hear from her listeners who have experienced a descent and reemergence

 

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Maureen Murdoch says that a life-changing loss usually precipitates our descent into the belly of the whale

• Descent and transformation can happen at the same time

• Often, you need to decide who you want in your life and those you don’t
  

 

QUOTES: 

“I had to transform to survive in my professional world because I no longer had any community around me. After that descent, I ventured out independently and built a successful career; I had not hit bottom yet. The betrayal from that break with my professional-self was very real. I felt it acutely, but I did transform in that moment. I learned that I needed to be in control of my destiny. I thought I'd been in control until then, but I was not.” Susan Gibson

“It feels like you're suffering terribly when you're in it, but that emergence of self is not negative at all, but it's scary. It's terrifying because transformation means you're changing into something different than what you were before. And that's frightening. It will kick in all of your instincts around surviving that you've known so far, and you’ve just got to let all of that go. To allow my true self to emerge, and at this point, after these three life-changing losses, I was still descending and transforming along the way. They were happening in parallel.” Susan Gibson

 

RESOURCES:

Susan Gibson - Email

Finding Forgiveness - A Family Fairy Tale | Podcast on Spotify

Finding Forgiveness - A Family Fairy Tale | Podcast on YouTube

 

ABOUT THE HOST:

Susan Gibson grew up in a small town in Northern Maine, the only surviving child of parents who married young and divorced young. From the influence of their shared experiences, Susan has learned two things that are core to who she is: the value of community and the power of having a voice.

Susan has spent her entire academic and professional career as a woman in tech. She started as a developer in the mid-80s and continues today as CEO of Temenos+Agility, a management consulting company she co-founded with her partner, Siraj Sirajuddin. Together, they help enterprises transform organizationally and personally to find a more meaningful way to deliver value to their customers.

Susan frequently contributes to the Women in Tech (WiT) Regatta and speaks worldwide at public and private events. She uses her voice to grow communities of women, mentors and allies in tech. 

Susan has many lifelong pursuits - healthy eating, fitness, yoga and meditation, music, theater, opera, reading, movies, travel, family and friends. She is also rebuilding her family’s 110-year-old homestead in Northern Maine, a true labor of love.