All you need is love and someone to be there present
I have been reflecting on my time spent in my classroom with my boys with autism or in my fieldwork. My fieldwork is with adults with mental and physical disabilities. I would have never imagined myself working with this population but I absolutely love it.
Working with disabilities is challenging but it is so rewarding at the same time. From my posts before, I think I have talked about that a lot. All they really need is a loving person with a sincere interest in their life. Someone who will actually listen to them and just have fun with them.
Today there was this guy at my fieldwork who was talking about his favorite radio stations in Texas. He was naming off each radio station, what kind of music, the name of the station and why he liked/disliked the station. This isn't my favorite topic. I don't know anything about radio stations in Texas. I have never been to Texas. All I did was just listen to the client about his interests of radio stations. He told me after a while that I was the kindest person he has ever met in California. I don't think I am the kindest person in California. There are a lot of people in California who are much kinder than me. What I did was simply took time out of my day to listen to this guy and let him know that I was there. Not everyone has the time to go spend time like this with individuals with disabilities, so I understand how it can be hard.
I am learning about the law of presence though at my internship. The law of presence means simply being in the moment. Taking full advantage of the present moment and making that relationship the number one priority. We don't have our phones out during our internship. Our primary purpose is to serve our clients. We are meant to help our clients solely and not have any distractions. This time spent building up relationships with clients without technological distraction is amazing. I am giving them my undivided attention by being present. How often do we give our loved ones this kind of attention?
I think we too often do not show this law of presence with our loved ones. I think we are experiencing a drought of human interaction, We think we are interacting with each other when in reality, we are hiding behind a screen with masked emotions. Technology has made keeping relationships easier but made us much more distant at the same time. What happened to face to face interaction? These clients who are most often alone feel this "drought" too often and need love through someone simply listening and being in the moment with them. Simply being with someone who you can talk to and you know they are interested in you as a human being is sometimes all you need.
This is just food for thought but I think it is something important to consider. Some questions you could ask yourself is:
How present am I with my friends?
Do I allow technology to interfere with the quality of my relationships?
How can I improve my relationships and be more "in the moment"?
Like I said, this is needed for me to reflect when I am doing my fieldwork but it can apply to anyone who is human. Which means you!
Working with disabilities is challenging but it is so rewarding at the same time. From my posts before, I think I have talked about that a lot. All they really need is a loving person with a sincere interest in their life. Someone who will actually listen to them and just have fun with them.
Today there was this guy at my fieldwork who was talking about his favorite radio stations in Texas. He was naming off each radio station, what kind of music, the name of the station and why he liked/disliked the station. This isn't my favorite topic. I don't know anything about radio stations in Texas. I have never been to Texas. All I did was just listen to the client about his interests of radio stations. He told me after a while that I was the kindest person he has ever met in California. I don't think I am the kindest person in California. There are a lot of people in California who are much kinder than me. What I did was simply took time out of my day to listen to this guy and let him know that I was there. Not everyone has the time to go spend time like this with individuals with disabilities, so I understand how it can be hard.
I am learning about the law of presence though at my internship. The law of presence means simply being in the moment. Taking full advantage of the present moment and making that relationship the number one priority. We don't have our phones out during our internship. Our primary purpose is to serve our clients. We are meant to help our clients solely and not have any distractions. This time spent building up relationships with clients without technological distraction is amazing. I am giving them my undivided attention by being present. How often do we give our loved ones this kind of attention?
I think we too often do not show this law of presence with our loved ones. I think we are experiencing a drought of human interaction, We think we are interacting with each other when in reality, we are hiding behind a screen with masked emotions. Technology has made keeping relationships easier but made us much more distant at the same time. What happened to face to face interaction? These clients who are most often alone feel this "drought" too often and need love through someone simply listening and being in the moment with them. Simply being with someone who you can talk to and you know they are interested in you as a human being is sometimes all you need.
This is just food for thought but I think it is something important to consider. Some questions you could ask yourself is:
How present am I with my friends?
Do I allow technology to interfere with the quality of my relationships?
How can I improve my relationships and be more "in the moment"?
Like I said, this is needed for me to reflect when I am doing my fieldwork but it can apply to anyone who is human. Which means you!
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