 The
Imperative of Creativity in Seeing Beyond Barriers
Dear Colleagues
and Friends,
I recently met a
long time subscriber of this newsletter who commented
that she had been forwarding each issue to co-workers
and colleagues throughout her home state of Delaware
from the very beginning. As I began to thank her for
sharing this information with others, she interrupted me
to say, “I don’t forward your newsletters to be nice – I
forward your newsletters in my relentless efforts to be
thorn in their sides.” Responding to the look of dismay
on my face, she went on, “Denise, the consistent message
you send is to not settle for easy answers, but to dig
deeper, and to boldly go where we have not gone before.
It’s not a message readily accepted because people would
rather be affirmed than challenged. Some of them just
want to skate by, but you are entreating them to bring
creativity to the job, which in my mind, is an element
in very short supply! In short, I’m letting you do my
dirty work.”
While at first
glance one might think that I would take offense at the
role she has me playing with her colleagues, I took it
as a deep affirmation of the root purpose of my writing
and teaching. In the spirit of what I once heard one of
my spiritual teachers say, “Let the message we send
forth be such that it comforts the afflicted, and
afflicts the comfortable!”
We all have
friends, family members, employees, or co-workers who
are stymied by difficult life circumstances and need our
help in seeing beyond their circumstances in order to
see possibilities for moving forward into the future.
In particular, however, I am writing this month to those
who are employed to assist individuals who are
disenfranchised in some way from the larger society and
who are now attempting to enter/reenter the economic
mainstream. These people may include individuals with
disabilities, people receiving some kind of social or
public assistance, folks leaving prison, people in
recovery from a drug or alcohol problem, recently
emancipated foster youth, new arrivals to the country
who speak limited English, veterans of war, people with
mental illness, dislocated workers, and a host of other
circumstances that constitute what we in the field have
labeled as “barriers to employment”. The majority of
these programs are delivered through federal, state,
provincial or city offices contracts and/or operated
through schools, training centers, universities,
independent living centers, and other social service
agencies, each operating within its own parameters and
set of standards.
The Imperative
of Creativity
I am often asked
how it is that my work can appeal and apply to such a
vast audience, working in such distinctive environments,
and with such diverse populations. My response is
simple. I believe there is one core purpose we share in
common, regardless of the differences in our programs,
and it is this: To help and support people in seeing
beyond their (real or perceived) barriers and
limitations in order to enter the more expansive field
of their potential and possibility! To me that is the
heart and soul of our work, and as such, we are called
to creativity in much the same way that the engineer is
called to precision, the athlete is called to physical
exertion, or the painter is called to artistic
expression.
From this
viewpoint, creativity is not just an “extra” that we can
contribute when we feel inspired to do so, like the
teacher who can choose to take a creative approach to
giving a lesson, or the flight attendant adding a
creative spin to the reading of the safety
instructions. Rather, I contend that we are called to
creativity not simply as a way to occasionally enhance
our work, but as the very essence of that work.
Creativity then should be the lens through which we
perceive every part of the process culminating in the
illumination of a person’s possibilities and the
expansion of their choices. While there may be many
elements in short supply in the work we do, I hope you
agree that we cannot afford to let creativity be one of
them!
This is not meant
to be an argument against the powers of logic or the
need for practicality, nor is it a denial of our
pragmatic concerns and constraints. Clearly linear,
tactical thinking has its rightful place and brings
strategic value to the running of an organization and to
the management of a caseload, a client group, or a
classroom. My contention is that while these qualities
and elements are necessary to certain aspects of a
program, the element of creativity and innovation is
essential to our work with the individual! If, in fact,
more conventional and traditional approaches to
employment, self-sufficiency, and community inclusion
were viable and effective for the people we serve, we
wouldn’t have so many in need of our services. What
people in large part come for is not to have their case
simply ‘managed’, but to be encouraged, affirmed and
inspired – stirred to new action and inspired by some
new possibility. People aren’t asking for a snapshot of
their current situation as much as the opportunity to
view their situation in a different, more hopeful
light.
Inspiration
vs. Barrier Identification
Some will argue
that a creative approach is difficult to take with
people who have barriers and that what is needed first
is to identify those limitations. I couldn’t disagree
more. First, it is precisely because people have
multiple barriers that we have no choice but to be
creative in helping them find a place in the world!
Secondly, I would contend that few people come to us
unaware of their barriers and limitations and the
implications they carry into every part of their lives.
The person who is deaf knows that her hearing loss will
carry limitations in terms of the jobs she can and
cannot perform. The person who has recently been
released from prison realizes that he is not bondable,
that employers may be reticent to hire him, and that he
has no recent work experience. The older worker who
speaks limited English is cognizant of the fact that he
may have difficulty filling out an application,
responding to questions in a job interview, and that he
may face age discrimination. None of this will come as
a surprise. By the time people come to see us, most
will have been made painfully aware of their barriers
and limitations through their families, friends, and
peers, from society at large, from their life and work
experiences up until that point, not to mention from
daily reflection in the mirror.
But here are a
few things they may not yet be aware of: the numerous
accommodations for someone with a hearing loss and their
innumerable applications; innovative ways to create an
opportunity in the work world in which one does not need
to be bondable, never has to undergo a classic
interview, nor speak fluent English; the businesses who
are purposefully attempting to recruit older employees
or persons with disabilities; or the many stories of
ex-offenders who were given a second chance in their own
communities. More to the point, they may not be aware
yet of their dreams and desires, their values and
interests, their gifts and talents, or the power of
their own strength, courage and resilience! Most
importantly, they may not have the slightest inkling of
their immense potential and the vast array of
possibilities that lie within their grasp, if they but
reach for them! While identification of barriers serves
its purpose in recognizing what support(s) people may
need, it is in the recognition of one’s possibilities
and opportunities that they will find their strength,
their power, and ultimately the spirit to overcome those
barriers in order to live the life they choose!
Expanding Upon
Goals to the Deeper Mission
As I travel
around the country to deliver training in various
aspects of job development and employment counseling, I
always ask participants to tell me in a nutshell what
they see as the core purpose of their work. The
following responses are fairly typical:
-
“I am
charged with placing ten people a month in gainful
employment with a minimum 90 day retention period.”
-
“My job is
to close as many cases a month as possible, whether
through employment or other forms of positive
participation in a workplace activity.”
-
“We’re
here to get people into work in order to reduce the
welfare rates in our county!”
-
“The goal
of our program is to move 70% of our caseload a year
through key components of service ending in paid
employment.”
-
“I’m here
to make sure that my clients get what they need
within the parameters of the system.”
To me, people who
describe the core purpose of their work in such narrow
and pragmatic terms are missing the spirit of the deeper
work that we have a unique opportunity to strive for in
our field. By contrast, if I were asked to summarize in
a few sentences the gist of the mission of that deeper
work, it would be this:
We are called
to assist people in discovering or recovering the
capacity to dream, to reclaim the vitality of their
imagination, and to exercise healthy curiosity. We are
called to support people in the stretching of their
insight, in the exploration of their options, and in the
questioning of their assumptions! We are called to
assist people in broadening their perspective, in
entertaining foreign ideas, and in envisioning new
horizons for themselves in the future. We are called to
give people new eyes and a new mind with which to
perceive their talents, their gifts, their potential, as
well as their limitations. Having done so, we are
further charged in equipping and supporting people to
act on and to realize those dreams utilizing the
resources and means of the system within which we
operate, and do so in a way that meets the pragmatic
goals and objectives of our programs.
Purveyors of
Hope
To me, that space
between who/what we are today and who/what we can be in
the future is the rich, fertile ground inviting
imagination and creativity, courage and vision. The
challenge for all of us is having a clear sense of our
potential and possibility, especially when we are facing
a difficult transition and our courage and vision are in
short supply. Consequently, many people come to us
wanting the quickest answer, the shortest route to
becoming employed - they aren’t necessarily seeking
creative solutions, what they want is the simplest
solution. They don’t often sense that what they have to
say is worthwhile or that their skills and abilities are
of much value. Thus, we hear things like, “I’ll take
anything” or the even more apathetic response,
“Whatever”. What we need to keep in mind is that these
responses are not issuing forth from the confident,
informed, or secure place within people. Many feel up
against a wall by the time they come to see us, and as I
once heard it said, “It’s hard to make a clear choice
when you feel a gun pointed at your head.”
When in a
difficult transition, despite the bravado or the façade
we choose to show the world, we are like hermits in a
desert, crying our questions into the night: What path I
am supposed to take? What are my choices? Who am I to
become? What am I to make with this time of my life?
Where do I look for answers? What support is there for
me? We’ve all been there, and Lord knows, we may be
there again! At this critical juncture, it is not an
inventory of our roadblocks, limitations, and sorry
circumstances that has brought us to this sorry place
that will serve us most. What we need, rather, is the
shelter and shade that comes from human compassion,
affirmation, and someone willing to listen to our
story. What we need is the refreshment provided by a
rainfall of provocative, non-threatening questions
backed by thoughtful, uplifting ideas. Once on the
receiving end of deep listening and benefiting from a
fresh perspective, we are led out of the proverbial
desert to a place where even the smallest bud of
something green erupts through the ground of our fear
and doubt. In the throes of transition, what we need is
hope.
Looking Beyond
the Surface!
And that’s where
we come in! We are some of the few people in our
society who are actually employed to offer support and
guidance to people in transition of all kinds. Even
though our program may use employment and retention
rates or “case closure” as its indicators for success,
we know deep in our bones that our work is to help
transform people’s lives in a way that adds to the
quality of their daily experience. My friends, we are
alchemists, assisting people to transform the straw of
their current circumstances into gold. In order to do
this, we are called to creativity, charged with viewing
a person and their circumstances through a variety of
different perspectives. Among those, as I mention in
this month’s Poem of the Month, Blue Skies, are the
following:
-
The dreamer,
who sees with faraway eyes;
-
The explorer,
who searches for truth beyond the facts;
-
The gambler,
willing to take a chance;
-
The coach,
who pushes people to the appropriate limits;
-
The gardener,
who tends to that which is growing and blossoming;
-
The listener,
who catches meaning with the net of compassion;
-
The one on a
mission, who wants to change the world one life a
time; and,
-
The keeper of
the flame, who lights the fire of inspiration into
action.
To me, this is
the quintessential gift we offer people – alternative
ways to view and respond to their circumstances and from
which to see and perceive new possibilities!
I would liken the
experience of looking beyond a person’s barriers to
their possibility to that of looking into a 3-D poster.
Also known as autostereograms, these are 3D images
hidden within another picture. For those who’ve done
it, we are told to stare into the two dimensional
picture until a new 3D image begins to take shape. We
are told to relax our vision, not grasping visually at
the surface, but looking through it, seeking not the
image before us, but the thing beneath the image. What
we are attempting to see is not just one part, but the
whole of the piece. It is a kind of looking that
requires letting go of the obvious in order to find what
is hidden. The thrill comes in the shift that occurs
when we finally see what lies beneath the surface. All
of sudden, a pod of dolphins emerge from the spectrum of
colored dots, or a flock of birds appear on the sky of
the page which seconds before looked like a mass of
colored confetti. Something new materializes with the
slightest change in focus and avowed attention. It is
more of a looking into more than a looking at. Isn’t
this what we mean when we think back to people who have
encouraged us and we say, “He/she saw something in me”?
The amazing thing
to me the first time I succeeded in seeing one of these
3-D images was that while it took great patience and
avowed attention to see it the first time, once I saw
it, it reappeared easily and readily without any effort
at all.
We need to apply
the same kind of creative stamina, persistence and
patience to look into a person’s abilities and gifts in
order to see their possibilities, rather being content
to look at their present circumstances. My experience
is that once you have peered into a person and pierced
the façade of all that appears wrong in that person’s
life, what you may see could amaze and astound you. And
what once took great effort and attention to see, you
will not be able to “unsee”. It is my further
experience that when you begin to view people in the
greater expanse of their potential and possibilities,
they feel the difference in your presence, and they
begin to feel different about themselves. That’s when
we want to remove our shoes, knowing we are on holy
ground.
In next month’s
issue of this newsletter I am going to pick up where we
are leaving off by offering a variety of practical
suggestions for bringing creativity and resourcefulness
to our everyday work, asking new questions and taking
alternative approaches to assessing a person’s
potential. In the meantime, I urge you to read the poem
that follows as a further appeal to bring all the powers
of your vision and imagination to the vital work of
helping people see a vision of their potential emerge
from the landscape of their barriers.
Wishing you
bright blue skies!
~ Denise
© Denise Bissonnette, April 2008
(If not used for commercial purposes, this article
may be reproduced, all or in part, providing it is credited to
"Denise Bissonnette, Diversity World - www.diversityworld.com." If included
in a newsletter or other publication, we would
appreciate receiving a copy.)
Read Denise's
previous (February 2008) newsletter...
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Poem of the Month
I wrote this poem in 2006 in
preparation for a special two hour DVD program on Beyond
Barriers to Possibility. Upon realizing that in order
to see beyond a person’s barriers, there are many roles
we have to play and many perspectives from which we must
view a person, I sensed a poem taking form. To my
surprise, the poem adopted a point of view of someone on
the receiving end of services. In a nutshell, this is
what I think the people we serve would say to us if they
could!
BLUE SKIES
By Denise Bissonnette
Excuse me, what’s that you say,
“This interview is finished?”
Pardon me, but I’ve hardly spoken,
Don’t leave me here diminished.
I’m sorry to disappoint you,
To not have the problem you like to fix,
Instead I come with my own story,
With mystery in the mix.
You see, my hope is shallow, my fear is deep,
I have dreams I can barely dream,
But sometimes I can glimpse blue skies,
Just up the road it seems.
So, if you’re the kind who likes to keep it simple,
Hey, I can handle that,
But please, don’t pass me on
To another bureaucrat!
Is there anyone here who sees beyond,
Who peers behind the smile,
Cuz there’s a lot about me you will not know
By opening up my file.
Is there anyone here who cares at all,
To whom I’m more than another case,
Who sees my life’s unfolding
Beyond this sorry face?
Is there anyone here who listens
In the rare and tender fashion,
Who’ll catch the meaning between my words,
With the net of their compassion?
Is there anyone here who gardens,
Who tends the smallest of seeds,
Cuz sometimes I feel things growin’ in me,
Beyond that list of needs!
Is there anyone here who’s a gambler?
Who’ll back a wounded horse?
Cuz I’ll need someone with faith in me
To set me on right course.
Is there anyone here who’s a coach,
The one who loves that final lap,
Someone who will coax from me,
Resources hidden and untapped?
Is there anyone here who’s a dreamer,
Who sees with faraway eyes,
Cuz my choices are looking rather dismal,
But I’m open to surprise!
Is there anyone here who’s an explorer,
Who searches for truth beyond the facts,
Who’ll focus on my possibilities
And not just what I lack?
Is there a Keeper of the Flame here,
The one who likes to inspire?
Cuz though my world appears quite dark,
I still feel the holy fire!
Is there anyone here who believes in miracles,
Like the one with loaves and fishes,
Cuz according to you I’m going to need a lot more
Than luck and your good wishes!
Because you see, when I go home today
And my family asks, “How did it go down there?”
They won’t be asking about my day,
They’re waiting for me to report to them,
“Hey, I’m on my way –
Somewhere hopeful, somewhere new,
Just up ahead those skies are blue!”
So, if that’s not you, that’s okay,
I’m really fine with that,
But please don’t pass me on
To another bureaucrat!
So go ahead, scan the place,
Find the one who’s on a mission,
To change the world, one life at a time,
Start with mine, you’ve my permission!
Cuz my hope is shallow, my fear is deep,
I have dreams I can hardly dream,
But once in a while I can glimpse blue skies,
Just up the road it seems.
I don’t need anybody brilliant,
Particularly worldly or wise,
Just send me to that someone
Who believes in bright blue skies!
©
Copyright, Denise Bissonnette, Diversity World, 2006
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