Not The End, Just The Start
‘For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one.’
— Khalil Gibran
It’s month 9 in our Social Connections Challenge project and things are starting to come together, especially as we prepare for delivery of the curriculum to attendees of the program. At this stage in the project there’s a lot of excitement, especially as more people join the project in various capacities, such as our illustrator and editor. Although excitement underpins the general mood, for me, as someone who takes relative emotional distance from the project for the purpose of staying hyper-focussed, I feel a mix of emotions - distance allows me that perspective and privilege.
While I am excited for what lays ahead, I am also sad because in all honesty, I don’t want this project to end. During this project I’ve felt and experienced so many ‘firsts’, all of which are so meaningful to me. While being able to work on something I am so deeply passionate about. Which is why the completion of big tasks is a constant reminder that time and the project itself are moving forward, as they are both designed to do. However, the selfish part of me wants to pause that, or at the very least slow it down. The realisation that time is progressing, has recently been highlighted by the fact that in month 9 we finalised our fully-developed curriculum - something we’ve been working on since last August. The curriculum is by far the longest I’ve ever worked on a project or a single document in my professional life, whether it’s in mental health or my previous gig in marketing.
Naturally, when you give so much care and love to something you can end up becoming attached, as I have. I guess what I am trying to convey in this reflection is that this is the first time in my ‘professional’ life that I am experiencing a mixture of emotions due to intimacy with the work itself. Especially as the work is strongly tied to my self-identity now. While this is challenging to navigate and brings with it a complexity of emotions I’ve not historically experienced in a ‘professional’ setting, I’m trying to embrace it as part of the journey. The reason I’m embracing it part of the journey is because community-based care has existed for a very long time. As a result, while each day brings us closer to the end of this particular project, in no way shape or form does this mean that the overall work we’re involved in ceases to exist.
It’s simply the case that this project becomes a part of the wider movement as they are both intertwined, much like the river to the sea…
