Vulnerability Enables Self Care
Dear CivSource Team,
The past years have been tough, heavily burdened, filled with emotional, physical, spiritual and psychic shifts which pushed me to hard places filled with painful, chronic fatigue and burnout.
During this retreat, I experienced positive energies which helped me out of the trapped burnout. It helped me challenge the myth that leaders must always be strong and selfless because everyone depends on us, and we cannot afford to have a “breakdown”.
I was also able to meet “me”, talk to me and find me, network and meet with other leaders who helped me through my journey of healing.
I was also able to meet “me”, talk to me and find me, network and meet with other leaders who helped me through my journey of healing.
I feel the heavy burden of feeling guilty towards self-care has been taken off my shoulders. It has positively awakened shifts that have re-built my spiritual, emotional, physical and mental energies. I also felt connected to others in respect to our experiences and vulnerability.
I was positively impacted by this experience. Learning from my and other leaders’ experiences, I have learnt to appreciate the need for self-care, the need to be me, and the need to create and plan for my self-care. It was evident that if I am not well, then the negative effects will trickle down to those around me. Another big lesson for me was the need to embrace vulnerability because it is not a state of weakness. Instead, it’s a process of letting go so I can embrace and love my story. The vulnerability in the room allowed me to connect with other leaders while they shared life lessons. Even where we felt the discomfort, those were the points I realized such spaces are needed. The space contributed towards my journey of healing, reflection, meditation and learning to live a wholehearted life as a leader, but also as me.
Harriet Adong,
Foundation for Integrated Rural Development (FIRD)
Executive Director
