You might need to find your people if…
As helpers and healers in the world today we are not only being pulled in a million different directions, we are also being bogged down by the weight of the current political landscape and the constant uncertainty about rights and safety. So it’s not surprising that many helpers and healers feel cut off from others for a variety of reasons. Maybe you’re a solo entrepreneur and don’t get a lot of colleague interaction. Maybe you are overwhelmed by the world and can’t handle any more situations where you need to mask. Whatever the reasons, you need to find your people ASAP.
Need more convincing? Here are 3 qualifiers indicating that you need to find community:
You might need to find your people if…
…you see clients but otherwise have minimal social interaction.
This is especially challenging as a solo practitioner or entrepreneur. Your co-worker or colleague community isn’t built into your job so you have to make an effort and seek them out. This is where group specific situations can be helpful. You can get exposed to multiple people, they’ll all likely have some things in common, and groups give you more “bang for your buck” because you spend the same amount of time socializing with a higher likelihood that you’ll find at least one person that you click with.
…you feel like no one sees the “real you.”
As helpers and healers we have a professional persona we have to maintain, even the most radically authentic of us still have to keep up professional boundaries with clients and colleagues. If this is your only social interaction that’s happening you can easily start to feel disconnected from your true self because you aren’t accessing them. You need to find people in your personal life, separate from work altogether, who you can be completely authentic. Being able to take off that mask (professional, neurotypical, heteronormative, or whatever) is crucial to your self-care as well as your self-image. Put down the weight of those expectations and feel how light and fluid you can feel.
…social interactions feel like a challenge or struggle.
Even if we are able to easily connect with our clients in sessions or other interactions doesn’t mean that we don’t struggle with social interactions in our personal realms. Like I mentioned above, we need to maintain this professional persona and usually they are able to navigate work-related social interactions seamlessly. But when the mask comes off and your energy is depleted it can be hard to effortlessly move through the world without some awkward moments. This doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with you! It just means you need to find people that get you, understand and affirm who you are, and don’t care so much about those silly little neurotypical social expectations.
If you feel connected with any of those three categories and you’re still reading - THANK YOU! - and also, you’re probably thinking, “ok, yeah. So now what?”
Valid query.
You need to look around in the world, and the internet if you feel called, and try to find your people. This could look like joining online groups and feeling the vibes there, or being brave by going to a local event like a meetup or organized social gathering, or being REALLY brave and striking up conversations with people you notice in the world that look like they could be your people.
These tasks can be really hard and overwhelming, especially today when our energy is being used up by existing in a world that doesn’t feel stable or predictable.
If you want some of this done for you then I’ve got a surprise for you!
I have experienced all of the above circumstances listed above. When I couldn’t find exactly what I was looking for I decided to just make it myself. This is how my Burnout Care & Creativity Workshops for Helpers & Healers came to be. After years of shifting and tweaking things we’ve landed on a model that works really well for any of you folx that are still reading.
We meet monthly, online, on a Monday evening from 6:30-8pm ET.
Each time we engage in a different form of creative expression while we socialize and connect with each other.
I mail you the activity materials so that you have them ready to go without an extra thought or task.
Our workshops have a predictable structure and clear differentiation between solo creating time, social interaction time, learning time, and personal centering time.
You don’t have to go through the steps of picking a group that fits with your schedule, wondering what will happen there, hoping you actually get yourself to go, or crossing your fingers no one will find your quirkiness “strange” or “off-putting.”
I want to take care of all of that for you!
Because it makes me feel good and it’s literally what I would want to experience, I designed it that way!
If this sounds like something you’d like to check out then I’d love to have you join us and see if it works for you.
Check out this page for upcoming workshops and register now so you don’t have to try to remember to come back to it later, give your brain a break from holding everything all of the time. https://www.kindnesscornerstudio.com/events-1
If you register up to 1.5 weeks ahead of time your materials will be shipped to you for free with a guarantee they will get to you in time for the event!
Give yourself this gift of meaningful real self-care, we will welcome you as you are and with open arms.
I can’t wait to see you there 💜
-Jennifer
P.S. If you are interested but are unable to join the next workshop event, sign up for our email list here and you’ll be notified of upcoming events that might work for your schedule and needs.