What are you grateful for?
If you are new to our online community here at Private Practice from the Inside Out, welcome! And, if you have been with us before, welcome back!
As a way of building our “gratitude muscles” and to help others build theirs, too, every Friday we will be hosting our Mustard Seeds & Mega-Gifts: A Community Gratitude Journal. Here you can share the large and small gifts and opportunities that have come your way.
I’m a little off on my schedule this week. The headlines here say that ‘All of Colorado is On Fire.’ Several of you have asked . . . . The truth is that a lot of Colorado is on fire and my sister lives in Colorado Springs, about 41 miles south of here, near the Waldo Canyon Fire. So . . . in spite of the fact that I have colleagues that live near the High Park Fire in Fort Collins and I have friend, clients, and colleagues that live near the Flagstaff Fire in Boulder and I have my sister near the Waldo Canyon Fire . . . I have much to be grateful for. Everyone that I know is safe and, so far, no one I know has been displaced. For the safety of my family, my friends, my colleagues, and clients . . . I am especially grateful this week.
I am also grateful for courage and strength of those who have survived fires and are willing to tell others their truths. I am grateful that there are brave souls willing to let the rest of us peek in to listen and learn how to support those who survive the unthinkable . . . .Andi O’Conor, Ph.D. survived the Four Mile Canyon Fire in Colorado (2010) and has chosen to share her journey in an award-winning blog, Burning Down the House.
So you see . . . I have much to be grateful for this week. And you?”
I’ve realized over the past several weeks how grateful I am for the community here on Private Practice from the Inside Out. Before finding Tamara’s website and e-mailing her and reading some of the blog posts, I didn’t realize how dismayed I had become with other professionals’ negativity. It seems that we live in a society where it is much more common to express what is not going well. This is natural, and in my opinion, needed.
In contrast, it seems as though we have a wonderful balance here on Private Practice from the Inside Out because we are providing feedback to one another and learning about counseling and private practice, It feels as though there is very little judgment (I haven’t felt any judgment at all, honestly), and I don’t have to be thinking “oh boy, I wonder how this is going to go over” when expressing an opinion here, which is in stark contrast to other listservs and counseling-related environments I have been involved with.
It’s quite refreshing to have an environment where I can say “Has anybody heard about this?” or “I’ve seen that done this way.” without worry of somebody saying “You should already know that?” or as I saw on a listserv last week (directed at someone else), “How can you call yourself a counselor?” While we don’t always have to agree, it seems that we can respectfully disagree. For that, I am extraordinarily grateful.
Lauren, I so appreciate the nod to Private Practice from the Inside Out. That’s really about intentions, isn’t it? It’s about my intention to build a transparent community that supports, informs, and inspires mental health professionals. And, it’s also about each of you coming to the table with your integrity and looking to support each other by sharing your own successes, challenges, and resources.
It really is a very special place online that we are building together. (It reminds me of that saying about a chain only being as strong as its weakest link.)
Today I am grateful for this website and the lead to Andi’s website Burnibg Down the House. We had our first pre-evacuation notice in our neighborhood last night. It’s frightening. We’re ok and the fire is down. It does help me as a counselor understand the whirl of mind-numbing emotions an evacuee goes through now. So I’m grateful for many things today.
Oh, Mary! I’m so sorry! Sending you good thoughts and prayers. I hope you will drop back in to introduce yourself, tell us where you are and what you do, and keep us apprised of your needs!
Thanks for the shout-out Tamara! Some of us Four Mile folks are heading up to Fort Collins in a week or so to talk to High Park fire survivors. Just paying it forward a bit, as I get ready to move in to my newly-rebuilt home, at long last. Good thoughts to all the Fire People in Colorado – we are indeed members of an elite club we never wanted to join! All the Best, Andi
Andi! How lovely to have you drop in here! Blessings to you on your journey!