The story

By Katherine Chidiac, Founder - Now is New.

Probably, like you, I have a tendency to want to be somewhere I am not. 

Oh yes. I will be ok or better when… we go on holiday, my kids stop arguing, my house is neat and organised, I lose a stone / get super fit and healthy / get more money / be successful /don’t get angry about stupid things... You get the picture. I’m sure you will have your own version.

I sometimes forget that my ok-ness, my energy and spark of life is not conditional on what I do and have. It is innate. 

You see, despite having had a fun and interesting creative career I have really struggled at times. Particularly as a young adult, I often felt broken and scared. I was told that I was not ok. I did crazy stuff to try to feel better. I began to believe that there may be something very wrong with me. I searched high and low to feel better. Some things worked - some of the time.

Then I came across some simple principles at the Innate Health Centre in London that transformed my life. I literally gave up my day job and got involved in developing language to communicate and illuminate these principles. IHEART was founded in 2018 and I was involved in designing the curriculum and training to teach it to young people. I also trained as a wellbeing coach and facilitated groups with Wisdom & Wellbeing.

In 2019, after many years of studying, listening and helping others to communicate simple and transformational principles, I began to write a book about what I had seen. It got deep. I literally turned myself inside out and I loved it. What exactly had been helpful that I could share? When I had finally finished this epic book I realised that it was simply not very helpful to anyone else. Ho hum.

But through that book, I realised something simple: that we humans are built with the most genius creative capacity to develop positive connections. And not only are we perfectly designed to thrive and create cool new stuff - the really good news is - that we can only actually do that right now. 

The truth is that we can't live a life we love yesterday, tomorrow, in the New Year or after the five-year plan. That is not how life works. That day we imagine - where it is all finally sorted - never. EVER. Comes. Why not? Because what we really want can only be found within us right now. We literally have everything we dream of, just underneath a whole heap of ideas we have created about what we need. 

Hold on, can it really be that simple!? 

Yes, it really can. When we get present and create our next steps we are responsive and in flow with life. We create miracles. We are aok.

So in 2020, inspired by a growing crisis enveloping the world, I shelved my first book and started writing the book Now is New to actually help people realise - and especially young adults 16-24 - how to stop struggling and create a life they love. 

Later that year I was working in the inspirational Helix Centre in North London, where I realised my own next steps. I wanted to help young adults who may not be thriving in the “traditional” environments we have made up. I began to listen. What do you want? What would you really like?

Funnily enough, they wanted what we all want… to not just survive but to really thrive. To feel secure and content. To be free, to have fun and enjoy all life has to offer. I wanted that for them too.

In 2021 I took part in the magical Michael Neill’s challenge to Create the Impossible (DO IT HERE!) and inspired by the sparkle in all the young people's eyes I had witnessed, I created the impossible project to reach one million young people who are struggling and help them to live a life they LOVE.

So here we are - setting up the CYNS project and campaign Now is New, creating each simple next step and totally flying by the seat of our pants, yet having fun! We are in perennial beta mode - passionately learning from young people and developing language that connects us all to the eternal spark within.

We would love you to be involved in the project. Stay in touch with us here.

Click here for more for more about Kat…