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‘Any path is only a path… The only question
is: Does this path have a heart? If it does, then it is a good path. If it
doesn’t, then it is of no use.’ Carlos Castaneda
 Living
in Victoria on the Mornington Peninsula with her husband of twenty odd years
and regularly visited by her two adult children, Julia continues to explore her
own ‘good path’. This has included teaching, coaching and mentoring, managing
bookshops, working as a musician and director of children's theatre, as a
playwright, published author, disability advocate ... though not in any
particular order! She also works extensively with young people, taking Life
Coaching principles into the school classroom and using them to effect positive
change and transformation.
As a popular coach, Julia has a track
record in facilitating clients to find their own ‘path with a heart’: their
personal avenue of expression and strong purpose in a manner that is joyous,
exhilarating and powerful. Most
importantly, Julia helps her clients create ‘personal action plan bridges’:
making connecting, manageable steps between where they are now and where they
desire to be in the future. Her style is eclectic, absorbing, sometimes
audacious, often hilarious, yet always highly practical.
Julia completed three years of training as a psychologist
but felt constricted by the emphasis placed on what was wrong with the client
as compared to what was positive and affirming. As a Life Coach she is able to harness
each client’s unique strengths to enable them to create a life of purpose and
passion. Raising a daughter with a disability has also been a source of great
teaching:
‘She taught me the arts of
patience, gratitude, solidly believing that something you needed would always
turn up, living in the moment, and really acknowledging the hidden achievements
that we all have but which are often invisible to others.
Her healing process showed me that there is no limit
to one’s potential if you are willing to look for possibilities rather than
focus on limitations. When supporting clients to move beyond their self imposed
restrictions I am inspired by what my daughter demonstrates daily: the cards you are dealt in life are only one factor of many
in determining concrete outcomes.’
Reflecting the Minessence mission of ‘unfolding meaning through values’, Julia is currently engaged in research
at the University of Melbourne where her focus is those reflective practices that promote Teacher Renewal through
paying close attention to core values, leading to a clearer understanding of one’s deeper purpose.
Publications
Reid, J. (2009). Shower singing and other essentials. In
Sinclair, C., Jeanneret, N. & O’Toole, J. (Eds.),
Education in the arts: Teaching and learning in the
contemporary curriculum (pp.54-62). Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
Reid,
J. (1989). The path with a heart. In
Verma S. (Ed.), “Everybody’s different,
everybody’s the same”: Effective practice in integration (pp 22-23).
Victoria: Ministry of Education.
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