Mood and movements!

This Magpie Robin is often at this flight station around the same time each day. I get to watch its mooed and movements in the mornings on certain days. 

What intrigued is its consciousness of the environment and sensing what goes on around. Its alertness and body movements correspond to the flight movements and bird calls of other birds around. The small birds take extra care to plan its flight path. It paid attention to its own body while planning for its flight path. 

During my professional life in five institutions during forty five years, I found general acceptance and support in four institutions. I pursued to build up the specialty of Child development in three institutions. A department of that specialty emerged in one institution during the 11 years I worked there and the department emerged as a leader in that specialty, having finished its 26 years currently. In another institution I pursued it for a similar period of time, only to experience series of difficulties and resistance, to the philosophy of approach I pursued, similar to what appealed to the earlier institution. The ethos and philosophy of child development did flourish in that environment, but not in the institution, where there was some resistance from the beginning. In the third institution where I spent only two years, it took a while for the child development facility to emerge. I find it making good strides in that institution now.

Every morning is a new day for the Magpie Robin. It senses the mood and charts out its flight path. It does so by sensing the climate, movements of other birds, and its feeding needs. 

When one is in a public space such as a hospital, where professionals occupy space and lead different specialties, what is common is collaboration. The opposite also can happen. When it happens, it is necessary to negotiate and navigate. When that becomes too difficult, it is necessary to pave the way for what is natural in that setting rather than resist and compete!

I look back at these experiences with a measure of acceptance, although initially there were feelings of disappointments and belittling. The health care practice setting ought to be a cordial environment for professionals to grow together. It is different in some situations. 

I looked around in our garden and noticed that most trees reach out to the open space by leaning towards it. Each tree has its soil space and finds its open air space by adapting to avoid to be in the path of the other trees.

I have felt in retrospect that one can give more concessions, when difficulties or resistance come up. Sometimes corrective measures are needed when there is a deliberate attempt to dislocate a vision or direction. That might compound the difficulties which was what happened in my situation.

Sometimes the skills needed to build a facility or a department or an institution is different from pursuing the ethos and mission of a calling!

That was the conflict that I faced. The unfolding of the way of delivering the service, was different from what was envisaged by the institution. 

The success model can be envisioned from different perspectives. The outcome can be measured by the satisfaction index of those we serve and the gains in the capacity building of the beneficiaries, or the academic content of teaching,  training, research, or economic performance indicators, profile of service in the social platform, physical growth, etc. 

One difficulty I come across in professionals is a disappointment that drags them from pursuing their vocation, when resistance and constraints come upon them. 

Let me suggest that all roads have bends, curves and hair pin bends. It is similar in life! Some detours are inevitable. That is formative and transformative when we look back. To endure unanticipated situations is also inherent to pursuing a call.  

What is often difficult and slow to restore is strained relationships and trustful communication, following the fall out of disagreements and conflicting view points. Sometimes they would stay disrupted!

I feel surprised how sighting a Magpie Robin in our garden, called forth from within some nascent thoughts, which needed attention to experience a reconciliation journey! 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)