ZestWare - Creative Wisdom for Success AND Happiness

Zest:

A creatively inspired state of energized engagement with life, work, and business.

Ware:

The creative principles and practices for achieving this state.

A ZestWare Workshop Participant Relates Her Experience:

Jean Von Witt (Journalist), Cape Town, South Africa

At the two-day ZestWare Creative Wisdom workshop led by Gopal Ramasammy-Cook (held in the highly creative space of A Touch of Madness restaurant in Observatory, Cape Town) my own boundaries to creative thinking were blasted right out of the box.

After indulging in creative play, exploring our life goals and values on paper (a selection of paints, khoki pens etc were provided) the workshop took a surprisingly philosophical turn. Everything from Quantum Physics to the role of religion (or not) was explored in the quest to acquire a greater sense of self. I ended the first day - my mind reeling with quotes from Hawking (Stephen) and Dawkins (Richard), not to mention Wayne Dyer and Dale Carnegie!

While some participants were there to empower themselves towards greater success in their own small businesses, others were grappling with trying to cope with career transition and to find a balance between their creative selves and the more mundane (but essential) goal of earning a living …

On the second day, after grappling with concepts such as mapping, archetype as metaphor, and the fact that life (let alone our career path) is not linear, but incremental, I began to focus on the key elements of managing my personal energy.

While we were also encouraged to explore the notions of risk and trust and to choose not to believe in a “universe of scarcity”, another concept we embraced was how to shift our lives into areas of strength.

I was encouraged to write a Mission Statement – definitely a first for someone not known for her business-like approach to life...

I left the workshop with my mind/emotions soaring and a determination to re-invent myself...

The ZestWare Model

My Commitment to You

I am committed to helping people like you enrich your Creative Wisdom in order to achieve Success and Happiness in your life and work.

Best of Zest,

Gopal taught me so many powerful things - about creativity, about life, about great ideas and philosophies, and most of all, about myself. His gentle, quiet wisdom and ability to listen attentively and mindfully, allowed me to express my thoughts and ideas in different ways, to explore different aspects of my life, and reminded me to live in a more holistic, balanced and creative way. I treasured our weekly meetings as a time to explore, share, learn, play, have great conversations and just have fun. I learned to say every day: "I matter Creativity matters My creative life matters."

Barbara Hutton,
Author and Editor,
Cape Town, South Africa.

Creativity coaching sessions with Gopal meant the luxury of uninterrupted time to focus on my music goals, the discomfort of having to face some of my demons, and the clarity that arose as a result.

One of the outcomes of my coaching sessions, is the certainty I have that music is not merely something I’m interested in – it is who I am. Something that surprised me was that I didn’t emerge from coaching wanting to leave my day job; on the contrary, I found myself with a much greater sense of integration/synergy, where my current mode of employment doesn’t detract in any way from my music goals.

It’s hard to explain, but, at the same time that I know where my passion lies and where my journey is leading me, I am at peace with my present circumstances. I actually feel blessed to be able to work in another, very fulfilling job while developing my craft and working behind the scenes towards fuller immersion. I have a better understanding of how the different parts of my life either add to or detract from my music goals, which gives me more control of my life in general. I now structure my time differently, consciously factoring into every day a slot of time where I work on my goals, either by actually practising my music or by having a goal-setting or reflective session.

I would definitely like to continue working with Gopal in the near future – his methods work for me.

Trudy Rushin,
Musician and Language School Manager,
Cape Town,
South Africa.