Both within my work, and beyond it, I spend a significant amount of time listening to people. It’s an honor and a privilege to hear how people are doing, sometimes in the deepest of places — what they need, how they feel, what they hope for, or if they’re struggling to hope, what they dream about, and what they’re committed to acting upon. I feel gratitude for this daily.
Also within my work, I spend a significant amount of time planning and implementing programs. In a season of a new year, this involves detailed work to get programs started and opportunities for grant writing.
If I may be honest with you, I completely overextended myself this week, and I truly did it to myself. I packed my schedule, and I moved back and forth between care needs and program planning needs without practicing ample self-care, something I’m typically very good at doing. I didn’t eat as well, sleep as well, or create enough space for down time. I paid for this physically and am now taking some time to change that.
But there was a moment that really stood out to me this week. In the midst of this, when talking with someone, I asked, “How can I, and how can we support you?”
This person answered, “Just be you.”
In all of the back and forth, in all of the gear shifting, and in all of the thinking about tasks and getting them ready, there was that reminder,
“Just be you.”
That’s important. Isn’t that what we’re all looking for, in times of stress and in times of joy, alike? Presence with people we love? Care from people who are uniquely themselves? Mirroring from people who can remind us that we are uniquely ourselves?
Being ourselves among people who are being themselves… and intentionally honoring both. . . With depth and simplicity, this is what much of the work is about, and this is what much of what the work is for.
Smuggling Grace 