I have backyard chickens who I let free-range in most of backyard during the day, at night I secure them in the coop to protect them from predators. They have unintentionally, yet charmingly, become a part of my coaching style. My background on my Zoom calls is my backyard, and frequently my chickens will walk around behind me, much to the delight of my clients. Sometimes my clients will be talking about something heavy, then they’ll see a chicken, and their entire countenance will brighten up.

The best recent example of this came not from a client but from a friend who was asking for my advice as a life coach. As he was describing his situation, he looked very grim.

Then his face lightened up with surprise as he said, “That’s a chicken!” And he started laughing.

In the late autumn, my lush green backyard turned brown and icky, so I switched  to  a virtual background.

My clients protested, “I want to see your chickens!”

“But when they’re not behind me, my backyard looks kinda gross right now.”

“I don’t care. I want to see your chickens!”

“OK!”

In this photo with me is Priscilla, she’s a Lavendar Australorp. I was on a Zoom call with friends in my backyard on a lovely afternoon, and she jumped up on my lap so I took a selfie.

What do you do to bring spontaneous happiness into your life? It’s a good mental health hygiene practice.