First Day of School, Context is Key & New Routines

Today is the first day of my DSW program! The program begins with some wonderful cohort building, a thorough explanation of what is to come ahead through our formal onboarding (virtually) via our two day orientation, hope, and excitement.

The program also begins within the context of the United States closest to Civil War than it ever has been in anyone’s living memory; taking place in the greater context of a pandemic that is taking both a physical, economic, and mental health toll on the entire nation, and – on a Macro Level – the globe.

Context is important. Context helps us understand the whats and the whys of what’s happening now, and helps us put those questions into a framework that we can understand for patients when we ask “what happened?” when begining to explore trauma . Context is the difference between seeing the larger picture (as scary as it sometimes is), and staying stuck at the micro level. Context is what allows us to function at the three levels of our practice (Micro, Mezzo, and Macro). Context is what also allows us to address policy, and shut down bullshit when we see it (e.g. those bills that magically take away context when discussing funding important programs, or providing relief, etc.).

Context is key.

And in this context I begin some new habits; daily writing among them. Years ago, I used to blog profilically (back before LiveJournal was bought, and sold, and bought, and sold, and eventually bought by a Russian company and then had its data illegal transferred out of California (more on that in another post, because I think it has a lot of relevance to what we’re experiencing today).

In any event, my new routine is to write daily, whether academic, or personal…I am going to write…hopefully this will also put my studies, my thoughts on class (both economic and what I’m learning in my program), my life, and what we are experiencing in the United States right now, into context.