Begin Anywhere: Less Script, More Presence
Begin Anywhere: Less Script, More Presence is a podcast about showing up as you are—without waiting for the “perfect moment.”
I’m Irina Pashina—coach, mentor, supervisor, facilitator, and speaker—inviting you into conversations and reflections that are recorded in one take, imperfect by design, and rooted in presence.
Each episode explores themes of authenticity, courage, leadership, transitions, and human connection, offering space to pause and notice what is unfolding in your own life.
This podcast isn’t about scripts or polish—it’s about what becomes possible when we trust ourselves and begin anywhere.
🎧 Join me to reflect, connect, and take the next intentional step on your own path.
Begin Anywhere: Less Script, More Presence
Episode 25: To Celebrate or Not to Celebrate
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
What is your relationship to celebration? What an unusual question, you may think. And one that has been on my mind for a long time. My relationship to celebrating – on big and small occasions – has been shifting over the years. I’m sharing reflections about what it meant, how I see it now, and invite to step into your own reflective space for the sake of more aliveness and participation in life.
I’d love to hear from you. Reach out at irina@irinapashina.com, on LinkedIn, or visit irinapashina.com to learn more about my work as a coach, mentor, supervisor, facilitator, and speaker.
Thank you for joining me on this journey of reflection and connection.
Hello and welcome. Welcome to Begin Anywhere. My name is Irina Pashina and I'm here to hold space. To hold space for all of us where we can begin anywhere with less script and more presence. Thank you for joining me. Hello and welcome to episode 25 of Begin Anywhere. Today's episode will be about celebration. And I've had this notion of celebration as something that's unnecessary for most of my life. And in some ways, celebrations have been a reflection of my own evolution over time. So to celebrate or not to celebrate has always been a question in the month of May for me. Weeks and even months before my birthday, there was so much thinking. Sometimes pressure, sometimes wondering, sometimes resistance, sometimes resentment, sometimes just a pure unwillingness to celebrate. And I've noticed this changing over the years. It's not like I never celebrated. But it felt like my default was not to. And I had good reasons for that. And at the same time, over the years, some doors opened, some lights went back on, some wounds got healed, and some possibilities reopened in me. So that the question if I celebrate or not is probably no longer relevant in this form. It's more of how do I celebrate in the most authentic way, here and now, in my own becoming, in how I feel in a certain year, in what wants to happen. And the reason I bring this topic is because I feel and I observe so much that's dense and tense, and perhaps the opposite of what we would consider worth celebrating. I observe it on so many different levels, and in my life, in other people's lives, in organizations, in the world as a whole, there is so much that's not worth celebrating. And at the same time, life. Isn't life always worth celebrating? I'm saying this knowing that I've struggled with this for many, many years, and I'm still finding my way into appreciating all of life. So in challenging circumstances. And at the same time, it feels so important to let life happen and to appreciate it. And a second reason that made it important for me to bring celebrations here is the invitation to reflect on them. How do you celebrate? How has that changed over the years? Has you changed? What's different today? And what is celebration an expression of in your life? Thinking about capacity as I say that, as I share some questions, I'm thinking about the elusive nature of time and life changing. That sometimes by the time we're celebrating, we celebrate something, it has changed. And this potentially has an impact on how we approach celebrations. Much of it is probably part of a tradition or traditions in our lives. And some of it a very unique approach that we each of us holds towards celebrations. Something so life-affirming. And I do hope that the invitation to be with the changing nature of celebrations for you personally, also in your relationships and groups and organizations, is something that rings a bell, something that may be relevant, and something that can be life-affirming and expansive. To more being. What made this possible was my own changing perception and perspective on celebrations. And I wouldn't want to miss any opportunity and occasion to appreciate and to celebrate life. As always, thank you for listening. And I'm curious what will show up in episode 26. In many ways, coming to twenty five times of recording an episode is worth celebrating. So that's what I'm gonna do. Probably with a cup of my favorite coffee, with a walk and with being present to what's alive in me. I'm sending you a big hug and look forward to our next opportunity to be together and potentially maybe even celebrate something together. Take care and see you soon.