Lessons.
So here is where a story creeps into my capstone. If my lessons could be captured in a mind map, this story and lesson would be the central feature and specific lessons would branch out from there.
Story: In the Moment
Sunday morning.
Today is the day the week-long 100 degree heat wave broke, an opportunity for conversations about something other than the heat!
I made my way to the local bakery, Fiores, that is just up the street from my Jamaica Plain, Boston sublet. It’s an inclusive space with expressive art covering every space of the walls. The wooden floors creek and there is always a line up from all walks of life.
I come here often to take in the vibe, access some AC, and do some work. Feeling motivated by the cooler weather, today I came with the intention of cranking into my capstone project – at times a daunting task!
I start to realize my focus is not quite on par with my intention. Facebook and email are proving to be great distractions from getting into work. With this awareness, I start sorting through my various pages of writing and reviewing my capstone overview.
Just as I suspected - ‘Lessons’ was still the next tab to start focusing on. Opening a new blank word document – I stare at it blankly! I knew I had learned so much, but what do I focus on? I could feel my anxiety building. I start the first sentence several times. My eyes dart around the café and then they land on a flower sitting directly across from me.
This flower had been across from me since I arrived at the café. A man brought it into the cafe for the day while he did errands around town, with the intention of picking it up later before he returned home.
This is when I pause and listen to allow for the present moment of integration to arise, because the greatest lesson from the last several years sat alive and well in all it’s splendor and beauty – a lotus flower!
(I’m still vibrating from the opportunity within this moment of pausing)
Three quotes have been with me these past two years.
Story: In the Moment
Sunday morning.
Today is the day the week-long 100 degree heat wave broke, an opportunity for conversations about something other than the heat!
I made my way to the local bakery, Fiores, that is just up the street from my Jamaica Plain, Boston sublet. It’s an inclusive space with expressive art covering every space of the walls. The wooden floors creek and there is always a line up from all walks of life.
I come here often to take in the vibe, access some AC, and do some work. Feeling motivated by the cooler weather, today I came with the intention of cranking into my capstone project – at times a daunting task!
I start to realize my focus is not quite on par with my intention. Facebook and email are proving to be great distractions from getting into work. With this awareness, I start sorting through my various pages of writing and reviewing my capstone overview.
Just as I suspected - ‘Lessons’ was still the next tab to start focusing on. Opening a new blank word document – I stare at it blankly! I knew I had learned so much, but what do I focus on? I could feel my anxiety building. I start the first sentence several times. My eyes dart around the café and then they land on a flower sitting directly across from me.
This flower had been across from me since I arrived at the café. A man brought it into the cafe for the day while he did errands around town, with the intention of picking it up later before he returned home.
This is when I pause and listen to allow for the present moment of integration to arise, because the greatest lesson from the last several years sat alive and well in all it’s splendor and beauty – a lotus flower!
(I’m still vibrating from the opportunity within this moment of pausing)
Three quotes have been with me these past two years.
"…and the day came when the risk to remain in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to bloom" – Anais Nin
This quote was with me when I was choosing to go back to graduate school. I recognized I was not living into my full potential and contributing to a path of service in a way that was sustainable - so I leapt into the possibility of blooming!
No mud. No lotus.
A lotus seed has been known to live for over 1,000 years to then revive and germinate. It lives in muddy waters to eventually grow a long stem and rise into a beautiful flower. It is often referred to as the sacred lotus within many Eastern religion’s and philosophies. The timing of this moment at Fiores Bakery was in alignment with these quotes and poignant because the past two years have been filled with blessings and challenge! The years have been a period of uncovering hidden assumptions, sustaining a critical lens along with deep compassion, and a time of maintaining perspective.
Perspective was often sustained through consistently returning to the next quote that I created as a personal mantra!
Commit. Surrender. Practice. Repeat.
This quote spoke to the layers of commitment and the on going practice this action required. Through any experience or relationship, I understood that freedom could arise through commitment to integrity, compassion, vision, and honest intention.
Grappling with this lesson through my challenging experience of graduate studies has offered clarity in my professional and personal vision for the future. I am confident in the bright future of possibilities ahead.
This confidence comes through lessons residing in relationship. Both my practicum experiences working with Michael and Judie Bopp at Four Worlds Center for Development Learning, and David Emerson at the Trauma Center, were grounded in the intention to foster long-term relationships. This intention also informed my professional work during school (within the Water tab I discuss how the threads of learning and experience within my practicum’s inform the tapestry I am weaving for my future). I believe the commitment to fostering and sustaining long-term relationships with these individuals and organizations will support me professionally and personally in many ways. This directly transfers into community development and the action of generating a network of partners, collaborators, resources, and a community of practice.
Forming and supporting communities of practice to inform my work will be a priority. I believe there is great value and possibilities that emerge from engagement with people from diverse disciplines looking at issues with different theoretical frameworks and practical experience.
All this being said, the moral of the story is - relationship resides at the core of all my learning.