上癮的佳釀（十三）－We are in a beautiful place here

We are in a beautiful place here.
We are social workers.
We have the opportunity to know people.
Some are people similar to others we might have run into anyway.
But many are people that we would never know in any other way.
They all fascinate us, because each of them brings their own unique way.
They are resources to us.
They have taught us more about human diversity than we have learned in textbooks.

We are in an important place here.
We sit at the crossroads.
Because as social workers we connect to people at all different levels.
We are the elevators of society's people.
We pick them up in one place and go with them to where they want to go.
We understand the connections and connectors.

We are in a challenging place here.
We weave science and art.
Because social work practice needs spontaneity with precision.
Because people aren't simple and neither are we.
And all that is gold does not glitter.

We are in a vulnerable place here.
People show us their pain.
They share their reality and shake our beliefs.
They swamp our perspectives as we work for their goals.
And just when we get there, we let them go.

We are in the right place here.

Somehow we've always been on the way.
The world has nurtured us and now we nurtured it in return.
Just as all universes seek balance, we too work as part of our world's solution.
We are naturals.
We revel in the opportunities for the world and for us. (440)

Miley, K. K., O’Melia, M. & DuBois, B. (2001).
Generalist social work practice—an empowering approach.
Boston: Allyn and Bacon