Being a Social Worker has been my life’s passion. I was practicing the values of Social Work before I knew that such a profession even existed. I have been officially in the field since 2000 but my experiences educated me well in advance.
The past few months have been incredibly challenging but have helped me to evolve - becoming even stronger and more determined to live a life aligned with my current values.
As some of you might know, one of my specialities is Post Traumatic Growth. I witness it in others so often and have experienced it myself. Finding deeper meaning, prioritizing meaningful & positive relationships, recognizing that there are things that are bigger than you… are just some of the experiences if you sit in and through distress after a trauma and ask yourself some pretty intense existential questions.
As a Social Worker, I have worked with victims of rape as a weapon of war in Sierra Leon, family members that lost loved ones in 9/11 and so many other victims of extremists. On Oct 7th my family and friends were attacked in their homes. Over 100 remain hostages of a terrorist organization. Staying away from politics but advocating for the victims - such as the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping in Nigeria and the horrors Iranian women suffer - is aligned with my values.
For the first time in my professional life, the impact was personal but, unlike the Covid era where we were all impacted, this trauma felt isolating. Having to heal and ground myself and find the bigger purpose here has and continues to be a journey. Until all the hostages are freed, the real healing can’t really begin. Safety must first be established in order to begin healing.
Finding community that is compassionate, supportive, understanding and helpful is very important, too. Which makes me very grateful for you.
If you can’t lift yourself up without pushing others down, it might be time to take a good look inward and on the impact your ideology has on your community and the world.
The only “sides” to me are humanity vs violent extremism. I will focus my life’s energy on people that encourage democracy, progress, science, the arts, kindness - the givers, helpers and builders. Those are my people and they live all over this globe.
We can have compassion AND boundaries. We can focus on those that want to evolve AND protect from those that try to harm.We can hold space for both experiences because that is emotional maturity. That is personal and global evolution.
I am a proud Social Worker and a proud humanitarian.
“…social work’s core values of service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, importance of human relationships, integrity, and competence. These principles set forth ideals to which all social workers should aspire.” - National Association of Social Workers