So: what is "coach"? It could be said my coach watches me, listens me, then intervenes in my already always ways of being, commenting on / suggesting new ways of being and acting that I, being coachable, take on, try out, and include in my repertoire. A coach, it could be said, steps out of his world into mine where I entrust him with the right of veto over any of my actions / ways of being that aren't working well (or at all) ie those which could work better than they do. And "the muse"? The muse on the other hand, may actually refrain from coaching me. The muse delights in allowing me to swim in my own waters (so to speak), not adding anything new, not disparaging what's already there, not even suggesting anything be changed. The muse inspires not by adding or suggesting new directions, but rather by demonstrating being satisfied in her own life, neither wanting nor needing to change anything in her being or in mine. The muse, fully accepting of her own life, is totally OK the way she is no matter what she's doing, grounded in the deliciousness of her own being. Said another way, what gets my attention from a coach (ie what mostly gets my attention from a coach) are the new directions he proposes, whereas what gets my attention from the muse is her demonstration of the possibility of living a life of fullness. To get those, I have to listen a coach ... whereas I have to grok the muse (as Robert Heinlein may have said). What this says is for me, it's a fine line between a coach and the muse - indeed, there's more overlap than difference. Both inspire, that's for sure. That's the overlap. So here's my take on the difference between a coach and the muse: whatever inspiration the muse provides, doesn't come through coaching (and given the overlap, the muse may indeed coach). Rather it comes from making my own fullness of being, be attractive to me. And she does that by living fully herself. Coaches can do that too (hence the overlap). So an inspiring coach who doesn't coach, could still inspire the way the muse inspires - indeed, coaches may have muse-like qualities. |
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