Marija Farmer “Dances With Dualities” to Help You Improve Communication

A trained psychologist and a theater professional: these are two professions that may seem like opposites of each other. But for Coach Marija Farmer, the duality of who she is helps her show businesses how to be comfortable with their own push and pulls.

In an episode of the podcast TaskHuman Talks, Marija explains how her two passions led her to create a unique business that teaches people, and companies (and their employees), how to navigate times of stress and growth with stronger communication and clarity. Here are the takeaways:

1. Business Theater Can Help You (and Organizations) Improve Communication

Before she started her business, Marija kept her performance life separate from her psychologist life. But unintentionally, they started to blend.

“I started to bring business elements into my performance,” she says.

Her consumers loved the combination so much that it inspired Marija to develop her idea called Business Theater. The concept uses elements of psychology and performance to help people learn to… 

• Develop creativity.
• Improve conflict resolution.
• Develop change management strategies.
• Learn stress management strategies.

In Business Theater, Marija will have you role play and explore new ways of communicating and try on new personalities, which will make communication more effective or more difficult. The goal is to learn which parts of your own personality might help or harm your communication with others in your work environment.

The freedom of theater allows you to find new perspectives to help you find clarity as an individual & develop new leadership skills.

2. Everything Is On a Continuum

One “game” Marija may have you play is to be negative about everything for a set amount of time. No matter what anyone says, they need to say something contrary. Marija explains that the idea behind it is to show, if one extreme way of thinking is absurd, then so is the other. Just how not everything can be negative, not everything can—or should—be positive.

This truth extends to your own personality too. Realizing you’re on a continuum can “break the narrative of who we are.”

“You realize that your narrative about yourself is not entirely true,” she says.

If you’ve told yourself you’re shy, you can also tell yourself that you can talk to everyone. If you’ve told yourself that you’re not creative, you can find small ways to challenge that narrative and be creative.

“The fact that you are alive, that you are a human being, you are creative already,” Marija says.

3. Finding Your Balance

As someone who felt singled out for most of her life and who had a strong desire to “just be normal,” Marija understands what it means to want to change yourself.

“I actually felt that I’m not belonging enough,” she says.

But through her work, she realizes that most people want to be more of what they feel they are not. For example, if you are “unique,” you might crave “normalcy.” If you are “normal,” you may wish to have more time in the spotlight. 

To help people feel centered, Marija points out that everyone is “dancing with dualities.” Learning to find peace on your own continuum will help you embrace your uniqueness and live a full, belonging life.

Moreover, Marija’s wish for everyone is to enjoy that dance, “and maybe not living a perfect life but eventually try to live a life which has love.” 

To hear more about Business Theater and to hear the entire conversation, click here.

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