As a storyteller, there is clearly a part of my brain that loves word play and configuring words to highlight concepts and relationship. While considering the types of topics or content that I wanted to offer, I knew that I must remain true to the one rule that I strive to adhere to – follow your heart and passion.
Within the past 12-18 months, I have been walking and working my way through an integrative process that has been quite comprehensive. This has been necessitated in part by reaching a stage of personal healing and post-traumatic growth, while simultaneously arriving at a stage in my professional journey where I was sensing a shift and call to “pay attention and get ready.” Get ready for what, I did not know. However, I have become quite accustomed to the need to respect my intuitive voices. Instinctively, my antenna began to go up and I started to look around.
True to form, things began to appear. Some were key teachings, concepts, and frameworks that have served me well in my healing journey, while others were new arrivals. My mind has labeled them “paradigms of possibility,” and they will be the focus of these offerings, serving as the muse of my journey as a Storyteller in Residence.
Each proposes a framework or lens of understanding. Much like when an optometrist places different lenses before your eyes to improve your vision. With each click, the optometrist asks if the effect was better or worse. I invite you to “take what you like and leave the rest,” as is frequently said within self-help circles.
I continue to examine these paradigms and consider how they are affecting my ability to see and understand. Do they deepen and widen my perspective? Can they offer me a new pathway that will enhance my healing, contribute to the liberation I seek, and improve the work I am striving towards?
One of the greatest takeaways I received from last year’s Join the Journey conference came within the first hour – the Wellness and Transformation panel. I listened intently to Dr. Ashley Cross outline the three key concepts within Hope Rising: How the Science of Hope Can Change Your Life. Similar to a three-legged stool, each component may appear simple but is undeniably significant, interconnected, and work together to provide vital support – Goals, Pathways (Waypower), and Agency (Willpower).
My ears perked up and my heart quickened when she spoke of waypower and willpower. Immediately my mind went to one of my key “nana-isms,” quotes that my nana instilled and installed in me. “Where there’s a will there’s a way,” she would say countless times.
Within my journey and resiliency story, I had found that to be true. I am in agreement with the authors’ statement that having willpower does not necessarily create a path forward (or waypower) to one’s goals (Casey Gwinn, J.D. & Chan Hellman, Ph.D., 2022; p13). However, I have also experienced times when maintaining the will and commitment to finding the pathway forward or the person or people who might be able to guide me to the path was crucial. I was able to get there, but it required my doing the work and it appeared to be the right path at the right time.
That has also been my experience professionally, particularly within the field of community coalition work. Finding the “right” team of people and organizations who have the shared passion and will has made all the difference. Together, we find a path forward, and step by step we work to move closer to the goal and vision. There are often many more steps than initially envisioned. I have often joked that I like a challenge, which on some level must be true, for I have spent decades working in the field of prevention and community coalition work. Both of these are poorly funded and not well supported; however, they are richly rewarding and can support hope, healing, and transformation.
As I write this, my mind goes to the questions pertaining to the how and where our organizations and systems can mobilize to enhance the support, work, and changes that are needed. I do not have the answers, but I have the questions, the desire to learn, and the willingness to stretch and grow.
Thankfully, there are many different paths available to suit-up and show up. Again, I am grateful to have found my way to this particular community at this moment in time.
In conclusion, I am also extremely thankful for the work of Casey Gwinn, J.D., and Chan Hellman, Ph.D. Their book provides many different resources and tools that can strengthen and support individuals of all ages, as well as guide organizational change. On a personal note, it also confirmed and affirmed key components of my resiliency story which I explore within the supplemental video component entitled, Resiliency Toolkit.