A Root and a Rise

Original art from Katie Berggren, discovered online: https://shop.kmberggren.com/blogs/news

We had the first group meeting for the BHP Healing Council last night. Ooowee! It is so invigorating to spend time in spaces with folks driven by the same passions and dreams as you. 10 out of 10. Would recommend!

Anyway, Dr. Graham asked us to think about one “root” for our work (e.g., what is an anchor that grounds us) and one “rise” we are building (i.e., what’s something we are stepping into). You know I love a good Stop and Think question!

I encourage you to stop and think about these two questions this week. If you’re interested, I have shared my own response/ thoughts below.

Two things come to mind when I think about what grounds me in my work. The first was inspired by a conversation at work at least 10 years ago. The discussion was about professional organizations and the speaker was, in part, encouraging new professionals to be active in their communities. The person said something like “the way people will know what was important to you after you are gone is by how you spent your time and how you spent your money.” So, I think about what I want people to have known about me through my actions, whether my words are there to defend me or not. I’ll call this root Legacy.

The second thought is something newer I’ve been thinking a lot about. It’s not unrelated but a different angle, I think. It has to do with the application of Attachment Theory to professional relationships, generally, and the specific concept of Ghosts in the Nursery. AI sums up "Ghosts in the nursery" like this: is a metaphor that “describes how a parent's early, often traumatic experiences can influence their parenting style and relationships with their children, potentially leading to the repetition of harmful patterns.” Unresolved hurts from a person’s childhood can "haunt" their relationships, even if they are not consciously aware of it.

I don’t think it’s a leap to apply these concepts to adults in other relationships besides parenting. For example, as a consultant and clinician, I see how an adult’s past experiences continue to influence their current expectations, interpretations, and decisions in new relationships. Similarly, when I work with someone in supervision or as a trainer, old supervisors continue to haunt our spaces, sometimes long after what feels like a good adjustment period. So basically, I have been thinking a lot about being more intentional in my way of being in an effort to avoid becoming someone’s new professional Ghost in the Nursey. This is so important in creating and supporting the relationships and the workforce that makes up “The Nursey” for each generation to come. I’ll call this root Sage for the Nursery.

Hmmmm… maybe I didn’t think of a rise, yet. Stay tuned, I guess!