If I Asked You To Make A List

If I asked you to make a list of the things you are not saying, what would that bring up? What would make that list?

Could you keep an ongoing list open so you can add more items when you realized on random days and random moments that you were holding something else in?

Maybe some things on that list you do say or will eventually say but I think we can still acknowledge that it’s not easy. If it was easy, you might have done it by now.

If there was no price to pay, you might have done it by now.

What keeps you from saying those things? We know that not every emotion and thought needs to be acted on. How do you decide what to express and what to hold in?

What feels like shameful secret and what feels like a sacred truth…or maybe a shameful truth and a sacred secret?

How honest are you with yourself about the things that are your truth? Is it uncomfortable to feel that your truth and your identity don’t always align? Is it uncomfortable to notice how much energy you put into the image of yourself - the story, the version of you - that you’ve curated to hand to others?

Are you proud of the fact that you can have enough emotional intelligence to know that not everyone gets to see or hear the real real - the underbelly of your being - or do you feel the pain of disconnect because it feels like there is distance between your true self and others?

Would telling someone in confidence and privacy help - maybe someone not in your personal or professional life? Would writing it down help? Would writing it down and then burning it/shredding it/trashing it help? Would keeping it forever locked in your mind help?

Would it set you free? Would it help you realize how you really feel? Would it destroy everything? Would losing everything give you a chance to rebuild?

I have no answers for you - but rather questions to explore in self discovery.

If I asked you to make a list….

Social Work Month 2023

I've had many work roles but at the end of the day, I am a Social Worker. It is my strongest professional identity.

It is the driving force behind decades of dedicated work to help a multitude of communities I've been a part of or welcomed into.

To support others with care, boundaries, wisdom and actual resources has been the "how" to my "why".

I love the work that I do. I am so very grateful. I am who I am because of the people I've worked with - I thank you!