“Anxiety is soul chatter. It’s your soul recognizing that two values are in conflict, or something that is deeply important to you is not getting the time or energy it needs.” - Brandon Wert
The opening quote from my dear partner is a generous, kind description of one aspect of the human experience. It invites curiosity rather than judgement. It seeks understanding rather than a narrow view. It assures that the fullness of a person’s experience is welcome, and this moment is not defining. It opens space to explore and grow in emotional availability vs. loop in the lizard brain of emotional volatility.
Is this the approach that schools choose when writing reports about who and how children are in the world beyond the silos of education? Is this what health care picks when charting or prescribing medications for a being who is navigating complex health - a situation they did not willfully choose, but are surviving due to systemic architecture that is not in their favor? Moreover, do the words of the reporter catalyze the nurture and self-determination of children, families, and communities? Do they show the dynamic beauty of active hearts, minds, bodies, and souls at work? Do they celebrate the variety of ways that people know and be? If the answer is yes - wonderful, and more of that, please. If not, what is in the way? The gaps are not likely with children and families. They are professional and systemic gaps that can only be shored up with individual and organizational introspection, an authentic embrace of collective identity, and skills that build trust and relationship.
Jodi Wert
October 19, 2020
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