Why Matka?

A matka (plural: matki) refers to an earthenware pot common in South Asia. Simple, often handmade earthenware vessels, it is easy to overlook them. And yet, water stored in this Indigenous technology can be 4-10°C (7-18°F) cooler than the ambient temperature in the hottest summer months. This occurs because of a process called evaporative cooling which is enabled by the use of two different types of clay — one from the surface of the Earth, and one from much deeper down. Used in combination, they create little capillaries in the clay that make these unvarnished pots porous. Heat from the water is “pulled” out when there is temperature differential between the ambient air and the liquid inside the pot. In South Asia, the use of matki goes as far back as 2000 BCE. In Spain, a similar process is used to make the botijo which serve the same function of cooling drinking water. 

A sophisticated process designed from a deep understanding of the humblest materials creates a powerful effect. Matki make clear metaphors for the work we do together. It might seem simple to do the work of the exercises and relate them, but incredibly powerful things are happening beneath the surface as you undergo the process of change. Simple is not the same as easy. 

The fact that the matka is a vessel is of especial importance to me because it evokes one of my favorite writers - Ursula K LeGuin. In her essay, “The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction”, she builds on Elizabeth Fisher’s argument that the first cultural artefact in the world was probably a container, not a weapon. LeGuin argues that thinking of stories as vessels for ideas challenges the dominant paradigm of the story as a vehicle for conflict, and creates the possibility for newer, more interesting narratives. 

One relationship among elements in the novel may well be that of conflict, but the reduction of narrative to conflict is absurd… Conflict, competition, stress, struggle, etc., within the narrative conceived as carrier bag/belly/box/house/medicine bundle, may be seen as necessary elements of a whole which itself cannot be characterized either as conflict or as harmony, since its purpose is neither resolution nor stasis but continuing process 

I think of a career as a vessel for different jobs; careers can hold many things, and all too often we get distracted from the idea that satisfaction and joy can be those things. My own career consulting journey enabled me to realize that I had bought into the conflict narrative in my career too long, and that I had the option to reframe my career. Too often in my own career, I took opportunities because I thought I was “paying my dues”. I played into this idea that there were skills to be conquered and careers to triumph over. Part of the problem was that I was thinking too linearly and I hadn’t made the time to reflect intentionally on my career. Looking at my career as a vessel of experiences allowed me to more actively think about the experiences I wanted to add to my bag. 

Your career is an unfolding, continuous process. Together, we create a safe vessel for you to figure out, from the wisdom of your own experiences, what you want from it and help you focus your action to get it.