Wednesday, August 29, 2012

This Bouquet

I was talking to a friend of mine on Twitter about her tattoo. She has a blue button flower tattooed on her arm and I was commenting on how delicate it is. She told me she hopes to fill her arm with a bouquet over time. I think that's a fantastic idea, even though I am more covert with my tattoo placement in general. The idea of doing one thing nicely at a time is a good meditation for me as a social worker.

Someone asked what is going to get me down as I trudge the road of happy destiny, I mean, my MSW degree. So many things. Anything really. Or I can choose to turn it inside out and instead of focusing on the bleak, focusing in on the gifts every day has to offer. Maybe I missed my calling as a Hallmark Card writer. Maybe not. The basic principle I try to live by is being right sized and taking things as they come and trying to remember that no matter how freaked out I may or may not want to get, there is probably not a tiger chasing me. So I can relax a bit about whatever it is and accept it as yet another opportunity to learn about the human experience so maybe I can help someone else along the way?

My role in my educational journey is to examine every part of it and extract what I can from it, be it homework, parenting, relationship opportunities, and of course: work itself. I am working very hard to use what I have learned in the program I am in thus far to the work I do every day, the life I lead. I believe it is important to be ready to take the wheel of life when it comes but not push myself there before I or the situation has ripened.

Much of what I have learned to date is that the field of Social Work confirms what I knew before embarking on this journey. Such as the fact that programs are diminishing and there is a huge need for a large-scale revamp. Jane Addams is turning over in her grave. Of course I will raise my voice when it's needed but I have learned by way of experience that hollering doesn't always pack the most punch in changing things.

As for the culture of the D/L community, I want to make myself available as a social networking partner. If people need assistance with blogging or facebook or twitter or any of the rest, let me know and we can schedule some time. I am grateful to have such a group of intelligent, driven individuals that I already feel I can call most any time for support be it scholastic or otherwise.

So here is to tattoos and flowers and Hallmark and Jane Addams and the future of Social Work!



9 comments:

  1. A lot of very sage wisdom spoken here, Jessica, I can really appreciate your method of taking things as they come along, doing the next right thing, and making progress one good deed at a time. Mother Theresa spoke "We can do no great things; only small things with great love," and sometimes the best social work is done one person to another with real intent. I can appreciate the humility of this attitude.

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  2. Thanks Nathan for your kind words. Mother Theresa was an amazing person and I think she's a good example of what we aim to do with social work. Cheers.

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  3. I love this Jessica. You do have a way with words. I love the changes that are happening to me in this journey and the way that I am able to take what I am learning here and use it to enhance the work I already do, as well as plan for more work in the right direction!
    Your comments about "hollering" not working to make change remind me of a conversation I had last week with one of the people I serve. He was mentioning that he had called the governors office to find out information about their adoption policies for locked psychiatric facilities. He was concerned with finding children he may or may not have from the various women he had sex with over his various times in these facilities. He said that hte man he spoke with at the governors office seemed upset or scared and admitted that yelling at people doesn't get the results he wants. When I asked him about contacting the facilities, he mentioned confidentiality (oh yah ..), I then asked him if he knew any of the women's names and he chuckled and said 'no'. We had a little laugh and talked about how that may have been a good step, as well as using safe sex practices ...

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    1. Thanks and I really appreciate your comments. Huge issues. One step at a time is all we can do, I think.

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  4. I appreciate your point of view on the various topics we have explored in the program. You offers good advice and the way you state things sometimes help to put things in perspective. I have also found over time that sometimes I need to just quietly work to help one person at a time and feel good with the small accomplishments. You don't always have to be the loudest to be heard.

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    1. I think this, Julie. I think in our culture, there is a drive to be bigger, better, louder, etc. Doing what we do every day by impacting people in positive ways is revolutionary.

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  5. "...trying to remember that no matter how freaked out I may or may not want to get, there is probably not a tiger chasing me." LOVE THIS!!! You just implanted something in my brain to help me stop and breath the next time I get freaked out.

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  6. Thanks so much Jessica.. I think that you are right. So much of how we experience life is due to the way we interpret it, either based on our choice or through a lens of our lived experience. Great Post!

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