Emily Reynolds, Programs Director will shortly begin a six month leave of absence. I am sure our entire agency will miss her and we wish her well as she and Hayden welcome their first child into the world. She has asked me to share her thoughts with you on this upcoming “transition.”
Gail
T.S. Eliot wrote, “What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from”.
This concept certainly resonates with me at this time as I am faced with knowing I have about 10 work days left before I embark on a life changing experience many of you have already experienced, ‘parenthood’. For those of you who do not know, I am pregnant and due to have a baby girl on or around January 3rd 2011. I am filled with a mix of excitement and fear. The excitement of meeting this little person and beginning the next chapter of my life and the fear of the unknown, how and when will she arrive, will I be able to handle it, how will I balance being a good parent with all my work responsibilities, am I planning on being away too long, have I left enough direction and guidance for the staff at Sound Community Services and I could go on and on.
As a clinician, I recognize this is all a part of transitioning, something many of us go through at many points throughout our lives. The simple truth is, we come to beginnings only at the end.
Over the years I have gotten to know many of you and have been reflecting back on many of you as individuals and the transitions you have gone through such as: marriages, divorces, babies, children starting kindergarten, teens beginning to drive, sending kids off to college and facing “empty nest”, death of loved one’s & colleagues, aging parents, sick and/or disabled children, new homes, chronic illness and so much more. I probably did not acknowledge your transitions enough, but I did often think about each of you when I knew change and transition was upon you.
Transitions in life can be best described in three stages: Endings, The Neutral Zone and The New Beginning. When we think of “endings” we often think of something very final and many of us fight the process, not recognizing that the ending is actually the first act. I will work really hard to maintain that perspective on my last day before leave, my goal will be to embrace my ending or last day and return for a new beginning with an enhanced perspective.
The Neutral Zone is often thought of as an in between state of mind or being, that period where we have completed the ending but the new beginning has not yet begun. The Neutral Zone is a time to examine and understand our current situation and a time to begin to make sense of the transition we are experiencing, a time for inner-reorientation and realignment of self. How often have we all gotten so caught up in the “doing” and living life in fast forward that we forget to appreciate the process and meaning behind what we are doing and why. The Neutral Zone is about re-orienting to one self. It is a stage we often want to reverse and go back to ‘what was’, though ‘what was’ can never really be again, or we want to fast forward and get to the new beginning but then we have never really fully transitioned. For me, the time between my last day of work and the birth of my daughter will be the neutral zone, it will be a time where I will need to “let go” given all the technology we have to keep me connected and a time to prepare for my new role and begin getting oriented to my “self”, a self that is not defined by career and my professional role. My sense is I will have a lot of work to do while in the neutral zone!
With every ending however, is a new beginning. My new beginning will be in my new role of “motherhood”. A role I look forward to and yet in the same respect, fear. A new beginning I will have time to acclimate to and practice, but a beginning that will also face many more transitions throughout life.
It is probably fair to say our culture does not take the time to embrace the life transitions we are all continuously experiencing. I have found myself reflecting on lots of things these days, things I know about many of you, as well as my own personal and professional transitions since beginning my employment here in 2003. I would be remiss if I did not also acknowledge the organizational transitions we have endured together; the ending of First Step and IBH and the beginning of Sound Community Services and all the work that was done to facilitate a successful merger. Our transitions in service delivery & treatment modalities, transitions in how we run our organization from operational perspectives, our transition from an affiliation organization to an achievement focused organization, our transition from paper to electronic record keeping, our integration of technology into our service delivery and our never ending transitions around physical location and office space. I certainly think we have been successful in many of our endeavors and while I would certainly tackle things differently if I had to do them again, we did survive and we continue to succeed. Each and every one of you was an integral part of the transitions this organization has made since our merger in August of 2005. There are days when the change seems endless but each and every one of you continues to demonstrate your commitment to those we serve, and it is those we serve that drive me to want to continuously focus on improving and doing things better.
During my leave I hope to self orient in new ways and return to my role here at SCSI with a new and improved world view. It is an honor and privilege to know and work with each and every one of you. I know as I transition out for a period of time, you will all carry on and continue serving those who depend so much on us.
My very warmest wishes to you all, wishes for a safe and peaceful holiday and a new year full of health and happiness.
Emily
Be Well!
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