Staying safe and sane at work

This title may surprise some readers. The words 'safe' and 'sane' are probably not words we may use a lot to do with work. When we say 'safe' we mean a state of feeling good or at least OK - emotional wellbeing. Not feeling threatened or capsized. When we use the word 'sane' we likewise refer to being balanced, stable and established. We use these words as there are currents, dilemmas and events in the workplace that that really do challenge our sense of safety and sanity. When people use phrases like 'Work is driving me mad' you get an idea of where we are coming from. So how do we maintain our safety and sanity in a world and work that is constantly moving and changing? 

We would like to offer this article to look at three aspects of the problem.

Outside Work
There is a  symbiotic relationship between work and our life outside work. One affects the other. In fact what happens in one can overshadow and sour the other if we are not careful. Therefore, can we maintain our work sanity and safety by what we do outside? If people have positive activities outside work this gives an powerful resource to deal with work stresses and difficulties. Each will have our own practices to achieve this. The  list is long - walking, swimming, working out, meditation, reading, dancing and so on. What we think they all have in common is that they take us out of ourselves or maybe away from our problems and actually into our authentic selves. In getting this bit right we create a good 'work problem' detox programme as well as finding ways to grow and develop. If we can get side of life right we have somewhere to go and be re-energised and refreshed. The business world is building 'quiet rooms'into their offices and building mindfulness and meditation into their work programmes. They realise the need and are prepared to bring it into the office and service space. 

Inside Work
   In work we may face lots of things that can make us feel upset and stressed. If these continue and worsen it can start to impact us on different levels - sleep, patience, hope, certainty, physical, emotional and mental levels. There are work services to support staff such as HR, staff counselling, coaching and talking to one's trade union. Usually when we have a problem there are three things we can do. They are all simple and well known. The strange thing is that we often don't do them or only do one or two but not all three. We'll mention them now as ways to start resolving what may challenge our work sanity and safety. They are
(1) See the Source - think and reflect on what is causing the problem. Don't focus so much on the effects but what is the cause.
(2) Speak to another. We can get things wrong and most of us benefit from reality checking. It's easy to see  just through an emotional lense or a fear lense. Another perspective from a colleague with insight can really help.
(3) Act. Decide that you have a choice here. Decide what you need to appropriately do and take the first step.
 We realise fear, busyness, tiredness, etc all get in the way here. But if we don't act things won't change. This path can certainly demand courage, resolution and support but the only way to a resolution is through addressing the issue. In addressing it too it is good to think of how we might manage this. How we need to be polite, professional and clear and what support we will need. This road is often difficult. It is also a road through which much valuable self discovery and self worth can emerge.

Inside Ourselves
The third of our three areas is us - ourselves. It is an admission that we can contribute to a problem or an issue at work that causes work to be a place of threat and stress. It is where we stop blaming the economy, the manager or a work colleague and own our responses and approach. We may have a number of emotions or states that we don't like but which play a part. These may include feeling very vulnerable and scared, anger. wishing to undermine others, ego, jealousy, hopelessness and passive aggressive features. We are not equating these states as some come from different places. We note them to recognise that we all need to realise the stones or pebbles we are throwing into the work pond. We may not always recognise our behaviour patterns or how we play out situations. We may when confronted by another or by our own awareness say "Well that's me! That's the way I am wired. I can't change."

Looking at our inner states will mean us facing parts of us we don't like or even deny. Yet this is part of the journey. Facing ourselves as we are is the road. One of the most eminent psycho-analysts in history Carl Jung said, “Where we stumble and fall is where we find pure gold.” Seeing and naming the problem is the fundamental.  Putting this together we would respectfully suggest a programme for positive and real change begins when we 

(1) See the inner issue

(2) Accept it as part of us but recognise that we are not pieces of wood or stone. We have the freedom to change. Accept that we can be different

(3) recognise that change will make us better people and possibly our work life better for ourselves and others. 

From here we can start to look for what we need to do to change and grow. This might mean using counselling or other disciplines. What this adds up to is a new perspective. It is a recognition that none of us is perfect and that growth is a wonderful and tremendous possibility for us all. This is a transformation that can work good in other areas of our life other than work. John remembers many years ago visiting a client in prison outside of Leeds. He was there for a violent crime. In the visit he was angry about what had happened to him. John then visited a few weeks later. He was in a very different frame of mind and outlook. He had been visited in the interim by a nun who worked with homeless people in Leeds called Sister Eileen Carroll. Eileen, who died a few years ago, was such a positive force for good in the lives of homeless people in this city. She had spoken to him about the need to let go and how holding onto this was only really hurting him. The words must have sunk into our friend's heart and mind as when we visited him he accepted he was in prison for a crime he had committed, that he was to serve his time and wouldn't hold any grudge. And that's what he did. He's never been back to prison. He had faced his own inner feelings and state, listened to a wise person and then let a new pathway open us which he followed. Change is always possible and we hold in our hands the keys to open the door to change. Change should always be infused with wisdom and patience. We cannot change things or particularly ourselves overnight. We can however take the first step right now to a better life and us if we wish. Let's take it. 

Lisa Falkingham. Service Improvement Team. Leeds Community Healthcare
John Walsh. York Street Health Practice. Leeds Community Healthcare

Holding it all together

This post starts with the story of a friend of ours. She works in a large global business and her name is Pat. Pat has worked there for seven years and is presently in an office which works with staff counselling. She loves her job and finds it deeply rewarding. She says, "I am so lucky to be in a place where I can spend time with people who make a difference every day and I really believe my added value comes in supporting others." The concern for Pat is that she may be moved back to her old department. This wouldn't be a disaster but will take Pat away from where she has found such growth and life. Her current post is described by her as a ground for exploring and discovering for herself and others what she can offer. Her words express this powerfully, "My role has enabled me to flourish and pursue my passions...using my skills to support others to reach their potential, recognise their strengths and skills and also to identify needs...Honesty, difference, challenge, enthusiasm, resistance have become my food, my motivation. Where there is energy there is hope and potential." Pat faces three challenges here. The first is what happens if they move her. The second is how does she manage the process until the decision comes through. The last concern is are these thoughts wants or needs? These are deep questions. In this post we will offer a possible answer to our friend. In it we will try to touch on what is essential here. We hope there might be life lessons here for us all.

The first worry is the big 'What if'' question. In Pat's case it is a 'may well happen' statement. A number of things are interesting here. It's amazing how we often we can go to the worst possible place when a change is a possible outcome. We can worry and think the very worst will happen. Why do we think the worst? Why are so many of us more likely to think the worst than the best? We think a possible answer is that we haven't reached that place yet of holding our life and it's determination in our hands yet. A place called inner freedom. In history we often hear about the right of countries to self determination. It was one of the big arguments against the large Empires. Countries must have the right to govern their own destinies and futures. It's not always the case that we exercise this right with ourselves. We either deny we have any power or give it away. When we worry in such a way we are really saying 'I have no power. I can't control anything here. I have no choices.' The truth is that worry is very common and a paralyzer of our life and energies.

The problem is that it is a mental prison and we need freedom. We need to be someone who owns their life and destiny. Not easy. Maybe big tough decisions but that is what freedom entails and gives. It gives the possibility of living in a new, fresh and abundant way. Pat realised this and sought places and strategies to not walk in to these dark domains of worry and fear. She accepted what might happen and that if it did she would have choices to make. She would make them and take the next step by placing one foot in front of the other. If what she didn't wished happened she would work with it. She might decide to leave or stay. The decision actually became secondary in her life. What mattered was how she got there. It had to be in a way that she owned her dignity and life. The journey became the key focus.

The second thing was how was she to manage her process during these tough months of not knowing. Her words are revealing here. Pat talks about "I can chose to enjoy today; I can see what I want and I can strive and do what I can to work toward that. I've talked to people in the organisation. I realise is that I get strength, not from the talking but from the doing." Pat knew she couldn't control or predict the future. She knew to live in the future was only possible in her head. What she did have - concretely and really right in front of her - was today. She could take the day and make it into the best possible. Pat was actually a difference maker because she focused on the present and made it the best.  It's not always easy but is the way. Of course we have to plan and make decisions. However we always do that in the present for the future. We are not mean't to live in the future. Paradoxically by owning herself and the present Pat was making the future. What she also saw was that to let go of the fears is freedom but feels like awfulness to start with. Pat believes all will probably be well. She does this because she has seen it work out well a thousand times before. She also knows that her worry often tells her untruths. If we thread these strands together we find a self ownership of herself in the process, a focus on the present and a belief that things would somehow come around. She lived in what might be called a state of hopeful tension. There were moments of worry and unrest but also hope and a look to a future while being anchored in the now.

The last thing was Pat's questioning of her motives and reasons. Was this needs or wants? It's a good question. Sometimes what we call need is actually just what we want. How do we tell the difference? One suggestion might be that a need is a thing we require at this moment for our deep development and growth. It's something which is essential to our becoming who and what we are. It may not be essential tomorrow but it is today. Without it our authentic growth would come to a halt. Or perhaps key aspects of it would. Pat described her role as "a role which has enabled me to flourish and pursue my passions ...using my skills to support others to reach their potential". It sounds like Pat needs this role as it helps her see and release her skills and gifts. The big challenge to Pat will be that if she is moved will she have the same space to grow and flow? Kate Cowie in her amazing book 'Finding Merlin. A Handbook For The Human Development Journey In Our New Organisational World' makes a key point on this. She writes that, "if our working environment is not providing us with the stimulation we need - our responsibility to ourselves is to seek an alternative place of work, one which will foster ( rather than hold in abeyance or,worse, stymie) our ongoing growth." We can confuse our needs with our wants usually due to powerful emotions dominating the picture. We can also fail to note our needs. This brings us back to where we started - the giving away of our power. Our needs are important. They call and grow us. We shouldn't ignore them. In a busy 24-7 world where everything is go this may sound like luxury. It's actually life itself.

 Living with uncertainty isn't easy. Holding it together can be real challenge. Pat shows us not only that it can be done but one way how it can be done. Some of the best wisdom is that found in the market place and there where the Pat's of this world live and teach the rest of us if only we will stop and listen.

 Lisa Falkingham. Service Improvement Team.Leeds Service Improvement Team

 John Walsh. Support Manager. York Street Health Practice. Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust      

A tale of two mentors

We don't know anyone who is a great health professional who has not had some form of mentoring. Mentoring can come in different shapes and sizes. It may be near or remote. It may be long term or for a short period. We seem to be made for mentoring. We need that 'other' to challenge, shape and support our journey. They often see what we don't. They bring out what is hidden. They are living mirrors reflecting back to us our values and qualities. They can somehow unearth what lies buried in the depths of our personalities and hopes. We would like to share a story of mentoring where a bright and caring young woman found her light in a difficult situation.

This is a true story. It is the story of a person known to us. The person is a a young woman called Paula who was aged 16 years old when this story begins. She lived with her parents and found a Saturday job in the South of England where she lived. The job was in a shop that sold all sorts. She described it as selling everything "from Anadin to kits for brewing your own beer."  The owner was a gentle man in his late years. He was kind to Paula and she loved the job. He retired and the business was sold to a man who became the new proprietor and manager.

While the new manager was supportive to other staff he seemed to take an instance dislike to Paula. He would always find fault. "Everything I did was wrong!" she recounts. She was accused of talking to the customers too much. Paula didn't earn a fortune in the shop yet the new boss started docking her wages when things were not to his satisfaction. These are her words of how it affected her.

"He constantly picked away at my confidence."

"I was faced with shifting expectations that I could never meet. Most hurtful of all, it was obvious that I was one of a few special targets, while he was satisfied with a  similar level  of work or effort from others."

"So, how did I survive in the shop.. as things got worse and worse? Not particularly well... After my shift finished I would often cry on the bus back home."

Things came to a head when Paula was talking to and helping a customer. After the customer left the boss attacked her verbally saying, "Who do you think you are girl! This is my shop and you will do as I tell you." Paula was afraid and left the next week. It was a real heartbreak as Paula had connected with the customers and cared for them. She says, "I was so sad as I missed all the regulars who came in... missed the stories, hearing about their families , their lives. I missed being part of that community. It made me realize  though, how much I enjoyed contact with general public & perhaps my calling was nursing." Paula went on to train as a nurse.

Years later when Paula was newly qualified as a nurse the door opened at her first clinic. Her first patient was an old face from the past. It was her old manager. Paula froze and a long talk took place. Paula explained how she was made to feel in the shop. The man broke down in tears and said how sorry he was. He went on to explain his domestic problems at the time. He also talked about how his health had deteriorated. Paula felt compassion for him and found  it in her heart to forgive him.

This story has a number of life lessons in it. The first is that should never treat others badly because we feel bad. The man was suffering and as result was projecting his pain onto others. This is never right. The answer is always to seek ways to hold and deal with it not transmit it. The second is that the saying "every cloud has a silver lining" is true in many cases. The awful situation for Paula turned out to the place where she found out her life vocation. Sometimes it is in the darkness that we find the light. At the little shop where Paula loved her job and suffered so much was where she found her path. The next life lesson is that the person who is meant to mentor or lead us might not be the one we actually get our help and support from. Paula did not get supportive and caring mentoring from her boss. Sometimes the spaces that are meant to nourish and develop us don't. We shouldn't always be surprised. We just need to look elsewhere to receive what we need. The last lesson is that Paula found the support and help she needed in the customers who visited the little shop. They were her help and support. These everyday people were her true mentors. There is a real lesson here. Everyday wisdom is everywhere. All we need is an open heart and mind to access it. Paula did and because of those true mentors - those ordinary folk going into the shop - she has served the sick and infirmed in her role as a nurse for years. Powerful stuff this everyday wisdom!

John Walsh. Support Manager. York Street Health Practice
Louise Brady. Clinical & Strategic Development Lead Practice Nursing. NHS Manchester CCG's North, Central & South 

 

The bad sister

There is a film many of us have watched. It's called 'Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?' and it was released in 1962. It featured two of the foremost actresses of the time, Joan Crawford and Bette Davis. It's a powerful and gripping movie. It's also pretty disturbing. As a film it was very popular at the time. It was nominated for five Academy Awards and won one. It's the story of two sisters who live together. One was a child film star - Baby Jane. The other watched on from the sidelines but late became a film star herself. This sister ends up paralysed. In the mansion where they live Baby Jane psychologically tortures her sister. Isolation, abuse and hatred spew forth from Jane. As you can see this is not a film for the light hearted.

We hope that this doesn't happen between any sisters in our society. We do know however that something similar does happen in one place to a lot of people. That place is our own mind. In these inner spaces thoughts of self doubt can invade, occupy and abuse us. They can live with us and the abuse can go on for years. A friend of ours suffers from self doubt. This is someone who is one of the most wonderful human beings you could meet. She is kind, caring and helpful. The sort of person who makes the world a better and brighter place. She shared with the writers how these self doubts affect her. This expresses too her courage and strength in being prepared to share. The following are her words.

"Self doubt to me is something that I would describe as a negative feeling."

"It makes me question everything that I am doing in a short period of time, why am I doing it, am I any good at what I do, can I change anything I am doing to make this horrible sickly feeling go away?"

"I feel very worthless at the moment, I feel like I am underachieving, and I am cross with myself for this."

"I feel worthless, out of my depth and very very lost!"

This friend suffers from thoughts which undermine her confidence and blind her to all the good she is and does. This is the iniquitous nature of self doubt. It is never a friend and always an enemy. We are not talking here about deciding whether we can do something or should. We mean an unwanted sense of unworthiness that paralyzes us and makes us feel and think the worst. It's something most human beings probably have at some times in their life.

In mythology we find some fascinating figures. There was the figure of Medusa in Greek mythology. She was a female creature with snakes as her hair. If you looked at her and she gazed at you, you would be turned to stone. In European myths there was also the creature called the basilisk. If the basilisk gazed at you it would bring death. To look at Medusa or the basilisk wasn't something we would advise. These thoughts of self doubt are the mental equivalent of Medusa and the basilisk. They freeze us and psychologically slay us. They rob us of life, energy and hope. In the film the one who should have cared for her sister became her tormentor. These thoughts of self doubt are our bad sisters. And we need to find ways to deal with them.

Some people need counselling or therapeutic help with this. Others may be able to create their own strategies on the ground to work through this. We would like to recommend two practices that may help. They are based on our friends experience. They may not be for you so maybe talk them through with a GP or professional first. The first one is to go easy. It's very easy to get into a battle with these awful thoughts. To fight them and try to beat them back. This approach while understandable can easily backfire. The more fire we aim at them the stronger they get. It's as if these thoughts absorb whatever is aimed at them. They get more ingrained and deep seated that way. Our friend records this phenomena, "the more I fight it the harder it becomes to control." So to step back, try to relax, let go and find a place of being at ease will put one in a good place to address the problem. A parallel might be if we have to face a person we are in dispute with and have a discussion with them about the conflict. It's much worse if we approach the meeting full of anger, resentment and thoughts of lashing out. Being calm, collected and in control is best from all points of view. Likewise to go calm puts us in the best position.

The other practice is to look towards the sun not the shadows. We don't mean this literally. We mean focus not on the negative self doubts but rather on positives either within or outside us. Rather than allow the shadows to surround and engulf us we look to where the light is. Our friend spoke of "lots of happy thoughts always do me the world of good." Exactly. This is creating new inner hardware for the mind. It is creating new patterns and connections. It links us to the good and the best. It gives us hope and ideas for the future. Focusing on the good and happy can be a good way to sow seeds to undermine the weeds of self doubt. It's like a dark room. We din't have to push out the darkness. We have to rather turn on a light and the darkness goes.

These bad sister thoughts can plague many but there is recovery and hope. Self doubt is an old problem for our race. Shakespeare wrote about it, "Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt.”

We hope you take from this post that these 'Baby Jane' thoughts can be dispelled although it might take time. We conclude by dedicating this post article to our friend. We thank her for courage and sharing with us. She later let us know she was feeling somewhat better. We believe her words here will touch and help many. And that's what human life and goodness are all about.

John Walsh. Support Manager. York Street Health Practice  

Louise Goodyear. Student Nurse. Wolverhampton University 

A step forward, a step up

Roz Davies has helped me recently in writing posts by providing inspirational thoughts and feedback. I recently noticed on Roz's Twitterfeed, "You don't have to see the whole staircase. Just take the first step" by Martin Luther King. Each of the three sentences were drawn onto a step of a staircase. I saw the words and the arrangement and had the feeling of seeing and understanding something and yet seeing something and not understanding something. It was a moment of paradox. It was recognising what the words meant yet sensing a meaning not apparent initially to the rational mind. I have thought about these words and they echo two messages to me. This post will try to write them and share them. One is a common and valuable life lesson. The other is a deeper and potent life call.

The whole staircase could be a metaphor for many things. It could be a course we are doing. It could be a tough time at work. It could be life itself. Lots of possibilities. We are not asked here by the Dr King to look at the whole picture or walk the whole staircase. We are encouraged to focus our energies and work elsewhere. That is to just take the first step. We can be put off if we consider how much work, hassle and stress a journey or staircase walk might entail. We may feel fearful, unequipped or tempted to give up. The quote tells us not to enter the region of fearful 'If's' and instead take that first step or next step. Rather than locking oneself in a mental prison we are challenged to action. To take the next step.

A wise man once said that if we live to a ripe old age we may look back on our life and see two truths. The first is that 90 - 95 % of the things we have worried about have not happened. The remaining few percent have but somehow we found the strength and help to get through.  Don't we often do and believe the opposite? That all our fears and imagined difficulties will materialise? That we won't be able to work them out?  The quote offers us a way to align ourselves with reality rather than negative frames. We are to live in the present and do the next thing. We are not even being asked to take the next five steps. Only the next one. The step is also way to preserve and strengthen our own integrity. We can be tempted to compromise or even betray our values. By focusing on just the next step rather than the difficult staircase we can maintain our integrity. What is demanded is the courage to take the next step.      

  

The other thought was that this was not just about doing the next thing. It was possibly pointing to raising higher in our thoughts and perspectives. Taking the next step up. I can't write this without thinking of Einstein's comments about how "No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it." We have to go somewhere else to resolve what stands in front of us. On this basis it is the movement or shifts in consciousness that allow us to see problems anew and perceive new solutions. How often we use old systematic thinking to solve new and old problems and we find we can't. There is a crying need for fresh eyes, new minds and open hearts to work collaboratively on what the solutions may be. One of the most dynamic of these frameworks is the work done by my dear colleague and friend Dr Maxine Craig on dialogic change. This practice offers the possibility of shared and emerging safe spaces and conversations as responses to issues. It expresses co-learning, inclusion and where consciousness may start to move onto and into new spaces. solutions and stories.

The words of Einstein also resonate with the work of Carl Jung. Jung thought that we need this shift when we face issues and journeys. He wrote the following rich call, "The greatest and most important problems of life are all in a certain sense insoluble…. They can never be solved, but only outgrown." This ‘outgrowing’, as I formerly called it, on further experience was seen to consist in a new level of consciousness. Some higher or wider interest arose on the person’s horizon, and through this widening of view, the insoluble problem lost its urgency. It was not solved logically in its own terms, but faded out when confronted with a new and stronger life-tendency.' It is in growing that we solve. It is in rising to and into new stories and frames that we can experience a problem losing it's power and new vistas appearing. The staircase then takes on a new dimension too. It is a symbol of our inner journey to transformation and ' a new level of consciousness'

There are a number of fascinating studies on this theme. Kate Cowie, Ken Wilber, Robert Kegan, Jean Piaget and Bernadette Roberts all have worked to map out these levels of development in consciousness. Kate Cowie describes it as "A journey into oneself.....The growth of consciousness : the growth of you." The next step is really our journey to wholeness and self discovery. The nest step is a step to life, being and creativity. It is the move from who we see ourselves at the moment to be to who we are really are and can be. From the present to the potential.

How do we take this step up?  There are three clues in this writing. There are not clues because I have hidden them there. I have just seen them myself. I will run through them briefly. The first is inspiration. Roz's kindness in providing the quotes and reflection starts and sustains the process of unpacking their message and call. We all as human beings need inspiration. Without it we wilt and suffer interior decay. The second is what Maxine's dialogic work expresses. With others - together thinking, being and learning. A commonality and openness to life and growth. This points to how others can support our growth into new domains. Although others can support  the journey, it is all about us holding our own destiny in our hands. It is about having responsibility for ourselves and the life choices we must make. Transformation is about responsibility but always responsibility for service. . The last one is the power of words. In the stories we grew up with there was often a magic word that opens a door to where the hero or heroine wish to go. Ali Baba's 'Open Sesame' is possibly the most famous. Words spoken from deep places through the heart connect with us and raise us up the vision and inspiration. These are transformation experiences. These words are magic in that they somehow open the entrance to inner treasure. The amazing thing is that we can not only hear these words and let them work in us. We can also become the ones who speak them. Then we become the holders and sharers of wisdom and life giving words. There's a lot more in a step than one might think!

John Walsh. Support Manager. York Street Health Practice. Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust

The oyster and the pearl

We all recognise the value and necessity of good self esteem. We all can see how low self worth can stop us believing, acting and changing. Beliefs about 'I can't' or 'I won't be able to' are mental shackles that bind us to the present limitations and close off possibility and the future. Lack of self worth can lead to illness, tiredness and always thinking the worst of ourselves. In this post we will look  at self worth and ask what it consists of and how we can focus it on. We will offer some thoughts. We know that not all will agree. That's fine. This is an area where we need dialogue and exchange. We don't claim to hold absolute answers but hope there is something of value in what we write.  

We will take as our starting point the words of the Sufi writer, Rumi, "What strikes the oyster shell does not damage the pearl". This is a deep and wise saying. What does it means? The oyster is our surface life. This means our likes and dislikes, our emotions, body, mind and preferences. It also could include what we connect with externally and our possessions. These are part and parcel of our life. They are important and need to be nurtured and nourished. Yet Rumi tells us there is something else. There is a pearl. In history people have called this by different names: the real or true self, the soul, the deep or intuitive mind,the spirit, the heart and many more. It refers to that central essence of us that might call our life or being. There is in us a deep source and this is the place where our deepest gifts and existence seem to rise from. Rumi's message is that while the oyster may be struck by illness, pain, self doubt or life experience the inner essence remains. The pearl shines and remains unharmed. To us this offers a wonderful picture of authentic self worth.

The outer may change. We may even sadly lose some things we love and depend on. Our feelings may go up and down but the centre of our being which is life, wonder and creativity remains. Self worth then is all about celebrating the oyster and holding it but fundamentally more. It is a call to see and value the pearl. The strength of this position is that it means our self worth is not based on what we do or who we know but on who and what we are. It also means that we are all amazing wonderful beings born of a universe which is too marvellous to fathom . Werner Heisenberg, the Nobel Prize winner for physics notes, "Not only is the universe stranger than we think, it is stranger than we can think." It's sometimes the case that wonderful people can't see their wonder. Instead an illusion of low self worth lives and moves in their minds. This is a real conundrum. It may be explained by negative conditioning and experiences. The difficulty is in how the good comments and reflections of friends and loved ones seem to bounce off. Perhaps this shows how the deep the lack of self worth is. It may also reflect something else. We may be looking in the wrong place for self worth. Focusing on the oyster for our self worth rather than the pearl. If we focus on the passing and temporary we may soon get disappointed. For example if we focus on feelings we may end up on a sea saw - one day feeling good and the next not. If our self worth is based on money or fame what happens if we don't have them or lose them? Our self worth will disappear too. If we base it on the oyster shell we may end up with a self worth that either isn't there or can easily disappear. If we focus on the pearl we may find we have a centre for self worth and self well-being based on being itself - who we are in the depths.

The famous existentialist philosopher Jean Paul Sartre spoke about being, having and doing. We would see being as the base of self worth and having and doing as its handmaids. The error in our opinion is that often make having and doing the base and foundation rather than the pure expressions they are mean't to be. Having and doing won't provide deep self worth. They will support it and express it. So being - our centre and life is the principle of real self worth.

We realise we are walking into philosophical territory here so perhaps a story might help our words. The story is a real one and is about a man called Peter. Peter suffered from chronic lack of self worth. He doubted himself and saw himself deep down as useless, worthless and less than all. He held a series of beliefs that confirmed this for him. When things went wrong he would beat himself up mercilessly. Peter was a man of great kindness and compassion but not to himself. When things went good and people said nice things he always batted them away, never accepting the compliment. It's a sad story. Peter today is a person who values his self worth. His friends and colleagues would never think the above description was ever him. And in a sense it wasn't. For Peter's discovery of his worth and glory has remade him into a new person. What supported Peter on this journey was to become aware of the pearl. He knew that his self esteem could not depend fundamentally on money, status, success or feelings. He saw over a period that deep down he was amazing and good. And not only him but everyone was the same. That was really good transforming news. When people say to him 'You're amazing Peter!' He now says, 'Thank you. We all are amazing  - it's just that we don't see it' Peter built his self worth on the pearl not the shell. This building led him to value and appreciate the shell in new and fresh ways.

We should focus on the visible and external aspects of life as well as the inner centre. The question is how we can live on the surface from the depths of our being. Often we live on the surface from the surface. It is the depths  - the deep - where we find the creativity, energies and potency that can make all things new. Peter found it. We hope we all can.

John Walsh. Support Manager. York Street Health Practice 

Louise Goodyear. Student Nurse. Wolverhampton University 

Autumn is in the air

In my travels around the health centres, doctor’s surgeries and leisure centres across West Leeds last week, I noticed there is a definite autumnal feel in the air, with lots of brown crisp leaves getting blown into the health centre corridors.

I keep telling my clients that it’s a great time to stop smoking because the weather is on the turn and it is getting chillier so who wants to be stood outside smoking and shivering when they could be inside all cosy and warm. If that's not enough of an incentive, the money they could save could help them pay for Christmas. A 20 a day smoker could save over £500 over the weeks between now and Christmas. 

As well as quitting smoking to help improve lifestyle, our Healthy Lifestyle Service is on hand to support with other areas ( The Healthy Living Service is a city-wide service, you can find out more here ). At the start of October, we, the Stop Smoking Service, opened our first joint clinic with the Health Lifestyle Service. For the first time, people can come along to Armley Moor Health Centre on a Wednesday and get help with stopping smoking, advice on healthy lifestyle changes like diet, exercise and reducing alcohol consumption in one location. People can see our Stop Smoking Advisors, Emily and Emma, or our Healthy Lifestyle Practitioner, Tash. This is a truly is a holistic approach and one stop shop to a healthier lifestyle for the West Leeds community. New people are invited to come along at 6:50 pm and returning clients sessions run between 5:30pm and 6:45pm.

If you want to find out more about where the nearest clinic is for you, please get in touch, call 0113 843 4537.

Maree Diamond

Stop Smoking Advisor

Taking the power

A lot of people know I write blog posts. That's certainly true. However it's often other people - colleagues, twitter friends, work partners, the homeless and patients - who inspire them ( If I ever make any money from them I will owe a lot of royalties !) This post follows that pattern.

Roz Davies is the founder of WeLove Life and is committed to exploring the potential of citizenship and digital health to improve well-being. Roz inspired a post  on wellbeing by sharing a powerful quote with me. The post went live and was tweeted and re-tweeted. Then it happened again. Roz shared another quote that both caught my mind and challenged my imagination. That quote is the context and inspiration of this writing. Once again I am grateful to Roz for her wise sharing.

The quote is, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." It comes form Margaret Mead. Roz asked on the basis of the quote, "how we create the conditions where we feel we have agency to act together for shared purpose?" A great question. In this post I will attempt an answer. I will not look at group dynamics, how small groups can 'seize the moment and the market' or how small groups can create 'tipping points'. I want to look at something else. Something much more simple, difficult and transforming. It's how we find and hold our power. For it is when we own our power and potency that the world starts to change. That's when the magic happens! It is so tragic when we doubt our own power or give it away. I am not saying we can't do anything until we consciously own our power. It's in the doing that a lot of this will start to emerge and function.

Several months ago three things happened to me over three days. The first was that I met a well known national NHS figure in Leeds for coffee. As we sat in a coffee shop and talked the subject moved to identity. Knowing who and what we are. By this we meant really becoming aware of ourselves, our power, gifts and possibility. This wise man then said that it is only when we know ourselves that everything starts to fit. It's only when we see and own ourselves that life flows freely and beautifully ( though not without pain and difficulty). In the next two days I had discussions with two different friends who both said in effect that they didn't know who they were and were searching to try to find their true self - their authentic identity. By this these good people meant that were trying to find a life rather than an existence. They wished and were moving from existing as human doings to becoming human beings. The search for who we are is the quest for who we are at our best. This is not a new 'fangled' thing. All the great faiths talk about and use meditation. Meditation is about transformation. This transformation is becoming what we already are in the depths of our being. It is by accessing this potential and power that we become people who can make the difference in lasting and meaningful ways. It's transformed people who transform others. Its transformed people who transform situations and support others discover their power and space. It is this that ignites and fires small groups. It is when people see a vision and possibility and move to make it real that they start to challenge the status quo with a new approach. It involves a potential and energy which is both infectious and illuminating.

So how do we tap this energy? How do we become what we actually are? That's a great and deep question. I will offer here three things that can start or support the journey. They are not the destination but will certainly help us travel there. They are calls to

                                     

* Catch the Fire

* Create the Space

* Clear the Ground  

Catching the Fire means glimpsing the possibility. It means believing this is possible. It involves us internalizing a vision. We may need to read, talk to others and dream for this to happen. We have a wonderful faculty to support us in this endeavor. It's the imagination. Einstein noted that, "Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.” We can dream about what it would be like to be empowered for service to others and ourselves. Dreaming is not meant to be only for sleep. When we try to catch the fire we may soon find it has caught us.

Creating the Space is all about realism and support. It is a realisation that this usually takes time and we will need support and sustenance for the journey. We need liminal space. The writer Richard Rohr speaks about liminal space. He writes that a liminal space is "the crucial in-between time - when everything actually happens and yet nothing appears to be happening. It is the waiting period when the cake bakes, the movement is made, the transformation takes place. One cannot just jump from Friday to Sunday in this case, there must be Saturday......Greatness does not just happen unprepared. It must be waited for, needed, desired and an inner space must be created." This means making space for the true us to appear and grow. It means waiting and not giving up. This space needs to be supported by good influences or we will give up.

Clearing the Ground is caning the rubbish. By this I mean the mental rubbish that fills our heads and aspirations so often. Lakoff and Johnson in their book on metaphors make the point that our mental and life concepts "govern our everyday functioning, down to the most mundane details. Our concepts structure what we perceive, how we get around in the world, and how we relate to other people " It's fine if we have a positive supportive conceptual system. Many of us will have to do some clearing. Thoughts of negativity, self doubt, self hatred, jealousy, etc will need to be cleared away. The ground needs to be cleared for the emergence of the true us. We should seek good and wise advice as how best this process should be done.

These three are not exhaustive as transformational tools but can be very potent. These three - vision, space and  dislodging the destructive mind concepts - offer a way forward. We may need other supports. Twelve step groups, professional therapy, medication, meditation,relationships and other things may all have a role to play. Each journey is different. Yet each journey is also paradoxically the same for we discover that behind the mess and mistakes stands someone who is amazing, beautiful and good. We sense and feel this when we are at best. Becoming who and what we are is living that permanently as a condition. This is the most wondrous experience a human being can have. Then we do really feel connected not just to others but to ourselves. We then do not have to pretend or hide. And the great news is that we are already this. The challenge is to become aware in a deep way of this reality.

The most important thing we can do today is to take the next step on this path. Not the 20th step but the next. If we do that we are going in the direction of the sun away from the shadows. So to answer Roz's question. It is when we tap and release the immense good and power within and become who we are that we as individuals and in small groups can start to shake and move the world. I hope - I really hope - you take the next step today. We have nothing to lose but our chains.    

John Walsh. York Street Health Practice

Finding the inner treasure

This post is all about integration. Not so much service integration as personal integration although what affects the individual can affect the service. It comes from myself and Denis meeting for lunch one day in Bradford. Two particular stories were shared in that conversation, one was a very sad tale, the other was a beautiful and inspiring one.

They both point to the need for what Carl Jung called 'individuation'. This is where the innate elements of a person come together and become a working integrated whole. This is the path to psychological wellness and wholeness. Jung saw this as a journey and a deep work. He referred to the 'cure of souls'. Some have suggested that a film like 'Star Wars' is all about individuation. The Jungian analyst Stephen Galipeau wrote a whole book on the subject. Star Wars is all about a young man, Luke Skywalker, who leaves his family as he feels pulled away from the familiar and towards an unknown adventure. This journey becomes a search for the truth - the truth about himself. It is a quest for his true self. He encounters the good and the bad. He has the face the shadow aspects of an Evil Empire and Darth Vader (who turns out to be his own father). In the journey he discovers his own power ('the Force') and has to learn to use it. In this passage Luke finds the truth and becomes who he is. He becomes actualised. This is a journey we all can take. Jung speaks of those who hear the call of the inner person to grow and develop. 'They are called' Jung remarks.

The first story was someone who we know who has taken time off work with stress. He works for a non NHS organisation. Where he works can be very rigid and some people there can struggle with all the rules and control. We wondered how much a culture (that doesn't always support but controls) had been a factor in this good man's struggles. His job is with people and is often a lonely one. We were both struck by the need for structures that nurture and develop us. We see this as the need for wellness practice and wellness structures. We should all have a wellness practice. Something that keeps us connected to our true self and nourishes us with inner food. Along with this, the emergence of workplace structures that nurture wellness and health should be welcomed. We need to move away from 'institutional' templates to templates that think of what help staff to work and be healthy.

The second story was about a good friend of ours who is on the individuation journey. This offers great hope and scope to us. This person is undergoing what we can only transformation. Jung compared the process to alchemy where base metals were transmuted into gold. Our friend is turning the base metals of his life into the gold of a real and free personality. Words like harmonious, peaceful, calm, responsible, free and open come immediately to mind and experience in knowing him.  He has worked on dropping certain things from his life - things which acted as chains. He now projects a wisdom, presence and compassion. This transformation enables him to transform situations and help others on their transformation journey. Jung referred to the undiscovered self. This friend is on the road which will lead to the discovery of the True Beautiful Self we all are and have. To not take this journey can lead in Jung's words to a 'painful fragmentariness' in life.

The good news is that this transformation is both possible and is happening. In the story of Humpty Dumpty he fell from a wall and no one could put the pieces back together again. The great thing is we can. We can re-integrate the pieces and become whole again in a new and brighter way than before. Often we don't know our gifts, power and sheer amazingness. There has to be a process of discovery. This means seeing, owning and manifesting who and what we are. When we do that that's when the magic starts to appear. When we think of great services like the NHS we wonder if this shouldn't play a key role in staff development. Work can often be on a surface level. This is depth work supporting us all find our own inner treasure. The staff and patients of the NHS and other services (in fact every human being) have incredible gifts and energies. The question is how we support each other release them. It is our view that unless we touch the deep we won't receive it.

John Walsh. Support Manager. York Street Health Practice 

Denis Jackson. Mental Health Chaplain. South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

    

The Wellbeing Compass

Paul worked in a statutory body. He had worked there a long time. Over the years he had become slowly depressed at work. Getting up and facing work every day became an awful experience. While at work he would go through the motions a lot of time. He knew this. He was running on empty. Any passion, commitment or emotional connection to work had gone. Paul knew things were not right. He had started to drink after work but always turned up the next day. He reported that his managers did not develop him and his potential and gifts. They were happy as long as he did the business which he did. Paul didn't feel valued. He was not alone. Other work colleagues felt the same and would make 'black humour' comments throughout the week about work. Paul's office space was not attractive. Cluttered desks, messy offices and untidy environments were the reality. Paul's friend's noticed  at times the quiet despair but didn't know what to say. His world and day from porch to work and back again was one long stressful run. Arriving home he would often breathe a sigh of relief. Paul eventually had a form of breakdown. He took time off work and now works elsewhere. This move has meant a recovery of happiness, energy and passion for Paul.

  

Wellbeing is like a compass. A compass has four points - North, South, East and West. They are called the four cardinal points. In this post we will look at the four cardinal points of wellbeing. We need ultimately all four to have the healthiest and best for all in our society.

  

We can see all four of them in Paul's story. The first is our own responsibility to self care. This is the duty of self wellness. Paul knew something was very wrong. He went on for years in this state yet he didn't seek a plan of recovery and self nurture. He looked to alcohol for solace. This is admittedly the first and most difficult step. The usual excuses fly up as defenses. "I'm just tired." "I just need a holiday" and "Work's tough for everybody". With this we have to start at home. We have to look inside first. Only then can we look out. There can be no real wellness without inner wellness. There's an old maxim that says "First within then without." It's so true. It's when we start to change inside that the outer world can start to move from grey to beautiful colours.

The second point of wellbeing is our circle of friends and family. Paul's friends and family were and are good people. However they either didn't see what was taking place before them or didn't know how to respond. Sometimes a person is lost in a state of unwellness. It takes a loved one to share their concern and open the possibility of a different quality of life. Finding the words may be difficult and we may stammer with the words but they are so needed. We must speak with kindness and sensitivity but also strength. This challenges us all. We can all be sources and signs of wellness to others.

  

The third point is the work place. We often make workplaces for work not for people. Staff wellness isn't factored in. We think if we allow a toaster or kettle we have ticked this box. The call is much greater. I (John) recently attended an event on leadership organised by the Centre For Innovation In Healthcare Management (CIHM) at the University of Leeds. The room was beautiful. There were lovely table clothes and flowers on the table. There was good lighting, windows, nice food and a great ambience. When we entered this space there was a real sense of welcome and wellbeing. This was a master class in valuing people and creating 'good space'. The result was we all felt more included and the event was a tremendous success. Compare this with someone years ago who told me that his team away day was in.....the busy grey office where he worked everyday. We realise budgets can be tight but if we don't value and cherish staff and colleagues, teams will inevitably suffer and even collapse. Creating environments where we can grow and be well is what our staff need and deserve. The American writer, Peter Maurin, spoke of a society where it would be easy to be good. How would we design work and office space where it would be easy for staff to be well, hope and be inspired? The outer always feeds the inner.

The last cardinal point is the outer world and its demands. The spiritual writer Richard Rohr speaks of how we can often be human doings rather than human beings. This relates to how our lives can be all about doing, doing, doing. Not really living from deep places. Not being who and what we are. He writes how 'mostly what we do is reprocess the past and worry about tomorrow.' These wise words make us ask how we can navigate society in a wellbeing spirit as well as create possibilities of doing the old things in new ways. The world and its stress affects us in a daily and hourly fashion. Finding the best tools and resources for navigation, direction and creation are vital.

The four cardinal points of the compass are interesting. While seperate they are connected. Wherever one starts one can get to the other points. The compass also gives us direction. The word 'cardinal' comes form the Latin 'cardo' meaning hinge. Hinge in the sense of 'that on which something turns or depends'  So these points are important hinges for wellbeing.

Paul suffered so much for so long because he either didn't realise or neglected the duty of self care, his friends didn't speak, his work management and environment didn't value and inspire and the world itself offered lots of stress and pressure too. We would argue that we all have a duty to dream. To ask what do I and my world need to make it a place of peace, development and inner refreshment. If we allow ourselves to be dreamers we may be very surprised where our dreams take us  and what our dreams make us.

John Walsh, Support Manager, York Street Health Practice

Gill Trevor, Director, Phoenix Health and Wellbeing 

The I of Illness and the We of Wellness

Recently I spoke with Roz Davies, who is the founder of WeLove Life and is committed to exploring the potential of citizenship and digital health to improve well-being. We had a discussion about how the inner aspect of health and holistic approaches to support wellbeing. I noticed a quote Roz uses - ''When 'I' is replaced with 'We' even illness becomes wellness!" 

This saying really struck a chord with me and I mentioned it to a colleague a few days later. As I was talking about it I realised that I didn't know it's meaning. The following day in a coffee shop I tried with the rational mind to unravel the sentence. It wasn't easy. Ten words meant so much! It's an enigma really that one set of words can be so simple and yet so deep. There was something here that was a door leading to other doors. Not in a sense of never understanding but rather of deep gazing. Deep gazing is where we see things as they are - in their deepest meaning. I suppose the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins meant this when he wrote, "There lives the dearest freshness deep down things."

So what did the mysterious sentence mean? I can only offer my own glimpse of its meaning so that is what I shall try. There are two points in the sentence - the 'I' and the 'We'. There are also two results or conditions - illness or wellness. What I see is that the 'I' ( i.e.you and me) is a paradox. The 'I' is both a glorious possibility and a terrible threat. The 'I' is a glory if we mean the wonderful gifts and potential we all have. Think through your day. The smiles, kind emails, laughter of children, support of friends, the amazing technology that links us together and the hearts that open when nature or humankind hurts us or others. This is that energy and power released and the good news is that it is everywhere and everyone. Even in the darkest heart and place it is present like a seed in the soil waiting for the opportunity to burst into visible life and shape. This 'I' we must nurture and cultivate. Our life and future demands and needs it.

Yet there is another 'I'. This 'I' is the ego. It's the part of us that grasps and wants to control, possess and get all it can. It can be prepared to push others aside and get angry, jealous and resentful when it doesn't get its own way.When we see this in others we are repelled. It's a human trait we don't like and yet most of us have elements of it. We sometimes use words to deny and justify it. Bullies may say they are just being assertive. When we are greedy we might say we are just enjoying life. This is the paradox - the amazing and the appalling.

To have an 'I' which focuses on self alone will bring us a lot of misery, suffering and isolation. We have to turn out to community and the other. We have to find ways to use our gifts for service and not just self. There is a powerful story in Dostoevsky. It is called 'The Parable of the Onion'. The story is that the old lady lives a life of awful selfishness. She dies and goes to Hell. She complains to the Devil there has been a mistake as she shouldn't be there. The Devil says,"You've been a greedy, selfish woman all your life. Surely, this is where you belong." The woman then remembers that she once gave an onion to a beggar. At that point God intervenes and sends the onion down and the woman is raised up out of Hell to Heaven. At that point those also in Hell start grabbing her ankles and are caught up too. More and more grab and hold on. The onion holds. They are all being lifted up to Heaven. At a point the woman begins to get angry and resentful. She starts to kick at the others and as they fell the onion frays more and more. Every kick brings a fray. As she kicks more and more people back into Hell the onion get smaller and smaller. Eventually there is only one person left holding onto to the woman. She kicks them away too. At that point the onion breaks and she falls back into Hell.

I am not writing this to make a religious point at all. The moral of the story is that it was her anger and selfishness that destroyed it for herself and so many others. The story is about harmony, wholeness and wellness demands our communion, care and concern with others. It expresses our own gifts but always in service. It's about always going out from oneself to others. When we do we are enriched and the connection enriches others. In this process - this mutual indwelling and enriching - we return to ourselves and the whole process starts all over again. The Medieval scholars called it egressus and regressus. It was the return and going out that marked and shaped all reality. In the seasons, tides and so many other things this dynamism operated. It helps us see how the 'I' is to go out to the ''We' to work and live. At the same time it returns to be sourced and refreshed. The 'I' goes out with it's gifts and riches - it is a container not a ruler of these. It brings to others in need and connection. It is itself enriched as well as enriching. It returns with new riches and possibilities. It's one of the most amazing things about life. If we hoard our knowledge, experiences and gifts we become miserable. When we give them to others we grow and find that we have more than when we started.

I'm very grateful to Roz for sharing this sentence. This sentence offers us a deep reflection on where individuality and community meet. It points out to me the dangers of self-centredness but also the value of each self - we all make up the 'We'. So what is the call and message of the words that I heard but couldn't see? It's simple really. We must self care but not self obsess. We always become ourselves most fully in connection and community. We can bring all we have to those we meet and who surround us. They can also bring all their qualities and light too. This creates authentic conversations, collaboration and culture. This quote is really a prescription. It is an action call and plan for how we can live for wellness - individual, community and world wellness. It's pretty incredible how ten words can offer such a transformative promise but they do. It is often in the small things that we find the big meanings and treasure we so need.

John Walsh. York Street Health Practice       

Deep dialogue

Dialogue is probably a word like inclusion which we all use and may never unpack and seek it's authentic meaning. It is also something we all are in favour of. Yet this doesn't prove we know what it is or even practice it! So what is dialogue? Is it discussion? Is it listening? Or something more?

I attended the first session of the Leeds Indaba Programme last week. This is a leadership, ideas and innovation fellowship in Leeds based at the Centre for Innovation inHealthcare Management. Based at  the University of Leeds, CIHM is a centre of inspiration, idea generation and testing, community outreach and teaching in innovative and creative forms. To my mind, CIHM is both an assett of and gift to the city of Leeds.

The Indaba programme is a joint partnership between the Centre, the University of Stellenbosch University in South Africa and the VU University in Amsterdam. Becky Malby, director of CIHM, Professor Erwin Schwella and Professor Goos Minderman were the facilitators. Indaba is a word meaning an important conference held by members of the Zulu or Xhosa people of South Africa. The Leeds Indaba was a meeting of a number of leaders from across the country from business, the NHS and the Third Sector. Its aim was to allow a discussion about leadership, positive passions, the NHS and its future and new fresh thinking.

I learnt many things. There was a large number of times when my mind lit up at comments made as they made sense of other things or connected them. In this post I will focus on the concept of dialogue. At the beginning of the session we each went around and spoke of who we were and our roles and interests. This was very different from when this is usually done. Usually people say their name, role and place of work. This was deeper. Those who attended spent some time talking about themselves and their journey. Throughout the day the honesty, depth and openness of the sharing was stimulating.  At the beginning of the day, Becky spoke of dialogue, she said, "It's only when we really know each that we can really have dialogue." This was one of those statements that illuminated my thought. In trying to unpack it the following things seem to come to view as learning points.

Perhaps to define dialogue we can look to a place where it holds a central place in everyday practice. This common place the word is used is in the religious world where different faiths will meet to work together and have dialogue. This is interesting as the world faiths have different views of the world and each other. Dialogue is the language or road they use to meet, listen and engage respectively with each other. The World Council of Churches has some wonderful words on the definition of dialogue. It states, "All dialogue involves an exchange, an interplay between speaking and suggesting on the one hand and listening and receiving on the other. Dialogue is, therefore, the opposite of monologue. It requires reciprocity and a certain equality...Dialogue is not merely 'discourse'". It is primarily a way of being together in charity, which gradually changes and renews the atmosphere.....where profound exchanges of thought and expression can achieve something which goes beyond clarity of conversation or individual conviction. ' ( WCC, Joint Working Group, 1967, 1). This definition embodies a rich message and offers a powerful praxis. It says to me that dialogue is about

          * being with the other

          * listening to the other

          * trying to understand the other's place - this doesn't mean necessarily agreeing with it

          * allowing the possibility of changing by exchange with the other.

Dialogue can only be deep when we know the other. Yet to know the other we have to dialogue with him or her. So there is a circle of connectivity and conversation which leads from dialogue to knowing and then to further and deeper dialogue. This circle of dialogue can keep going on and on. To be committed to deep dialogue means to be committed to deep listening, deep respect and deep sharing. It points to what the famous novelist Charles Williams called 'co-inherence.' This word gives us a clue to deep dialogue. It suggests connecting and in a sense dwelling in the other. To share in the hopes, struggles and life of another. This mutual indwelling while remaining ourselves would be the deepest dialogue. I have no doubt such dialogue has a power and connection that can cause real change and newness of vision.

Yet this deep dialogue seems to demands something else. A deeper dialogue seems to assume  a deeper commitment and conversation than we often have. I would suggest it demands an inner freedom in ourselves. The late British theologian Charles Davis spoke of "the openness and love that derive from inner freedom." This is a powerful insight. It's when we have authentic inner freedom that we can really love and be open. Our closed minds, fear and lack of real freedom within all make the most important things we both need and can offer very difficult. Charles Davis spoke of the need to find 'self-appropriation.'  He explained this by writing the following, "Happiness isn't not a quiescence gained by a narrowing of consciousness; it demands that a man accept the autonomy proper to him as a free person. A man has to take in hand his own becoming, decide what he is to make of himself, and then carry out his decision. Just to follow what others do or say and wait passively upon events is to live a diminished personal existence......to be fully a person does mean freely to take the decisions that determine the direction and growth of one's existence."

Deep dialogue flows from deep freedom and deep living. Perhaps this brings us to the fundamental lesson of leadership. Leadership is not something primarily we do - it's something we are. And that something we have to seek as we seek the freedom of self appropriation. I enjoyed the first Indaba meeting and look forward to the next. It was great to meet such good colleagues from different sectors and sit with them trying to listen and engage. It struck me that the Leeds Indaba was not just a space to learn but a school for deep dialogue. In that deep dialogue lies the possibility of some really invigorating and stimulating offerings. It's good to be on board the Indaba.

John Walsh. York Street Health Practice

Circles of wisdom, energy and possibility

Recently four people met in a coffee bar in Leeds. They had a number of things in common. They all worked for the same NHS organisation. They were all passionate about transformational change. They wanted to see best cultures for staff and best care for patients - an approach that worked for everyone. The conversation started and coffee was drunk. The conversation led to a discussion of the value of creating a positive space where they could meet, talk and seek to inspire and support each other. When they spoke, words like 'energy', 'wisdom', 'possibility' and 'inspiration' littered the conversation. This was not some Pollyanna fluffiness. They had all worked with patients or / and  staff for years. They had also experienced meetings and discussions where they had been lifted up in inspiration, vision and hope. They spoke of how these coffee meetings could become circles of wisdom, energy and possibility.  What did they mean by this? What did these words  signify?

Circles are very interesting shapes. They have no start or finish. They all have a centre but all is equally spaced from there. Some of the most prominent phenomena of our world like the sun and moon have a circular shape at times. Circles occur again and again in history, art and designs. For the four the circle represented an equal meeting. It was about people,life experience and awareness and not roles and job description. There was no hierarchy. There was no planned speaker. One of those present described the' quality of conversation and able to challenge with respect. Its OK to have different opinions, we are potential, not an homogenous being.' It was also a living circle as there was a deep trust, listening, laughter and freedom which flowed between the participants.

The wisdom was something the four recognised as essential to work and life. They also knew that it came from deep places. It was an intuitive faculty and inner reflective process. Part of the discussion was about how so often we operate at a surface level. Sometimes that is fine but the challenge and need is to dive into the depths of life and our own reality. That's where we find the treasure, gifts and the wisdom. They had all sat in the past and heard from others deep wisdom which resonated powerfully with their being and soul. They wanted this meeting and others to be a place where wisdom could be present. In the words of one of those there,"It was about exploring the deeper things that touch the soul – the things that ‘make your heart sing."

The energy was what happened when people who care, connect and converse meet. It was something that connected the circle as well as drew each person in and held them there. One described it as 'a place to buzz'. The energy was of course re-energising. It made those there feel good about themselves, each other and life. Yet the participants knew they couldn't turn this on at will. They could only create the space and allow the energy to operate. There was no agenda, minutes or timescales. Yet ideas and creativity did flow. It was a place where ideas could be birthed and caught. One participant referred to 'allowing ideas to surface, develop and grow through discussion'. Days after the meeting those there were still thinking about themes and links from what was said and shared. It was a informal forum for people to 'connect, stimulate and grow' together. Or in the words of another of the four a space to 'support, encourage, stimulate and energise one another.'

Possibility is an intriguing word. The four did not meet to do anything particular ( apart from drink coffee). They met to be together, talk and listen. This was opening a space and see what happened in it. It was to be open to the new, to the possibility of insights and being enriched by the other. There was no guarantees in this meeting. There was a hint of something all present felt and knew was worth holding and seek to find again. Possibility is being open that from our own resources and those of others we can grow, live and shine. It's the firm affirmation that in human potential lie answers and assets. If we can create the circle for them to operate great things and good can occur.

You may ask why we know so much about the four mystery coffee drinkers. The answer is very simple really and you may have guessed it.. We were the four but we don't want to remain four. We would like other colleagues from Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust  to join us to seek this dialogue and depth as well as drink good coffee. We would also like in the near future to open this up to other colleagues in statutory, voluntary and other parts of the city of Leeds.

Circles of wisdom, energy and possibility offer much to staff and we will seek to encourage and support their development. It also offers the option to provide some freedom outside of the rigours and pressures of everyday to relax and create. If you are interested please get in touch (email john.walsh@nhs.net) and thank you for reading this. 

Anne McGee. Service Improvement Lead. Leeds Community Healthcare 
Lisa Falkingham. Service Improvement Facilitator. Leeds Community Healthcare 
Steve Keyes. Head of Organisational Development. Leeds Community Healthcare 
John Walsh. Support Manager. York Street Health Practice. Leeds Community Healthcare

 

Flying High

Humankind has been interested in flying for a long time. Leonardo Da Vinci in the 15th century drew pictures of what a flying machine might look like. He had studied the flight of birds for his work. In the early years of the 20th century the Wright brothers managed to get a plane they had built to fly a few hundred feet. Before the century was out we were not just flying planes in the air but space ships to the moon. The ancient literature of the world also speaks of flight in powerful engaging ways. In ancient Greece there is the story of Icarus who flew with wings made by his father. He ignored his father's instructions and flew too close to the sun and fell down into the sea. The Book of Psalms also speaks of  flying. It says, 'Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.  I would flee far away and stay in the desert;  I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and storm.' (Psalm. 55:6-8).

 What is this attraction to flying and rising up to the heavens? It marks the centuries and as a race we have dreamed about, written about and worked to fly. There are probably multiple reasons for this interest. One as the Psalmist records is to escape from problems and dangers and find a place of rest. Another is that we have an inborn ( it seems ) need to rise and reach out. To ascend and transcend. To fly a bird needs wings. If a wing is badly broken it may not be able to take flight or fly again. While we do not as humans have wings the analogy is an interesting one connected to work and work values. It is a useful framework in which to ask the perennial question of what is a good health worker. What does great nursing and GP work look like? What are its component parts? What makes the difference between the average and the exceptional?

Louise and myself met recently and talked about the themes of this post. Louise is a third year nurse student at Wolverhampton University and I, a manager at York Street Practice, part of Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust. We will try to point to the two wings of good health work. We reckon that there are also the wings of good social work, care work and every valuable human endeavor. We believe these two wings enable those who discover and exercise them wisely and well to soar and move forward. This post is a distillation of the words of the emails and tweets we have sent to each other. In them we were asking what makes us fly - what makes us do the incredible.

The first wing is compassion. Compassion means to care for another. It means that heart connection that moves us to help and support another. The word compassion is from the Latin words for 'with' and 'suffer' or 'suffering'. So we have the idea of suffering with or being alongside someone in pain or difficulty. Recently I attended the NHS England event on NHS Citizenship in London. This event was to support and develop the public voice in the NHS. We broke into small discussion groups and our first task was to draw what the NHS meant for us or what we wanted from it. In a group of 6 people (mostly public and patients) three of us drew a heart. Another person drew a picture of matchstick men and women all holding hands in a circle. We know instinctively our service is all about compassion and care. The NHS in its intent, constitution and purpose is founded on principles of compassion and care where need is the basis. 

In response to the question of why she was wanted to be a nurse, Louise offers three reasons: 

 (1) "To care for patients and their families in time of need. no matter what their social background,ethnicity or choice in life. I believe we all need someone to care and who cares."

 (2) "To make a difference. I am keen to become a change maker, in that I really want to help and guide others, not just stand for the norm, be proactive in the face of adversity. I really want to make that difference, and inspire many who doubt that they can. If I can they they can! We can all be change makers. To stick our heads above the parapet is an immense feeling; one that at times I would love to hide from. But I myself am out there now, and I will make a difference, somewhere, somehow."

 (3) "Because this is all I have ever wanted to do! If I can help then it would really make me happy
  These sentiments are not rare. We find them across the NHS and in many places. Compassion is the heart we bring to a world in pain and worry. We really can be that difference. Healthcare without compassion has no values, focus or future."

The second wing is true leadership. We say true as there is unfortunately some confusion around leadership. People think leadership is management. We would rather say that the difference is management deals with systems and leadership works with people. One can be a good manager and poor leader and vice versa. To place an equals sign between manager and leader is a mistake. Leadership is a presence which we bring. Leadership is about people. It's seeing the best and bringing out the best in others and also seeing the best in ourselves. The best leaders are people of vision, values, care and compassion. It's what we learn and give that makes good leadership. Some leaders are quiet, some are not. Leadership is a possibility to us all. Like the cosmos with its stars, meteorites, suns , planets and galaxies it takes a myriad of forms and expressions. The trick is to see the possibility of leadership and keep our minds open to this and see what happens. We may find doors open today, tomorrow or in the future. We may not sometimes be the first to see it. People (usually fellow leaders who instinctively know it when they see it) may see in us what we may not at that moment see in ourselves. Leadership like life is all about us seeing, owning and releasing our gifts.

When people start to see our leadership emerging they will often say very nice and affirming things. We may find this difficult to see and accept. We may struggle with their compliments and affirmations. This is understandable. It is a sign however that our gifts and identity are starting to express themselves in visible and effective ways. We need to listen to the praise and compliments others give. We are always greater than we think ( much much greater, despite all our faults and flaws ) but we need to remain modest and humble when we start to see it too. So authentic leadership is the other wing. These wings fly together. Great leadership is compassionate and to inspire others is a truly compassionate act. Compassion feeds good leadership as fuel a fire.

Compassion and true leadership offer a vision of what the NHS is and can be. It offers the greatest perspective of all. That is transformation. The spiritual writer Richard Rohr talks of how it is transformed people who transform others. It's those who are themselves transformed that transform situations and support others to make that journey also. When we find our wings we find energy, meaning and direction. When compassion and good leadership are our wings we fly and fly high.

John Walsh. York Street Health Practice. 

Louise Goodyear, Student Nurse at Wolverhampton University

Giving Voice

Stephen Harris

Almost 5 years ago Stephen was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. As well as the many physical effects of the disease, Stephen has witnessed for himself a drop in confidence. Getting out and about was never a problem before but now Stephen feels anxious when he is in the public domain.

Each week he travels from the outskirts of Leeds to attend the Giving Voice Choir at Holy Trinity Church in Leeds city centre. The choir, which meets weekly, was set up by speech and language therapist at Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust, Wendy Neill. People with neurological conditions and their carers are welcome to join the choir which runs every Tuesday between 6.30pm and 8pm.

For an hour and an half, Stephen feels comfortable in the company of people who are in a similar situation to him and knowing they are there for one purpose; to sing. Although part of a choir during his childhood, it has been a long time since Stephen sang in public. On Saturday 4 October he performed as part of the choir at the Forget Me Knot Festival. The festival was in support of the Alzheimer’s Society, one of the organisations which support the choir.

Speaking about his condition, Stephen says: “For me one of the first signs of Parkinson’s was a change in my voice. In my head I could hear myself speaking loudly when in fact I was speaking with a low, soft tone. 

“By joining the choir I have seen an improvement to my speech as well as a growth in confidence. It has also gives me an opportunity to spend time with my son, Tom, as he accompanies me and we’ll often get a bite to eat beforehand; it gives my wife a break too.

“Although there are many choirs in existence I was more inclined to try this one as it offered more support. It’s enjoyable to be around people who have knowledge of Parkinson’s or other neurological conditions. Even though I travel a little way to get to the church, I see it as an opportunity to help myself physically and mentally. Not only are we singing, we are laughing and during the break we get a chance to chat to one another. I would recommend it to anyone thinking of joining.”

Members do not need to audition or have past experience of singing in a choir, just a passion for song and enthusiasm to be part of this inclusive choir. Percussion instruments will be available for those preferring to use these as their musical vehicle. For further information about the choir, email givingvoice@outlook.com or call 0113 220 8528.

The choir is run in partnership with the Alzheimer’s Society, Parkinson’s UK, Carers Leeds, Multiple Sclerosis Society and Arts@Trinity .