PHILSSA - Nurturing One's Spirit

Home » Features » Nurturing One's Spirit

Nurturing One’s Spirit

By: Gwen Ngolaban

HOW DOES FORGE CARE FOR THE SOUL?

When Melanie asked me to write an article about caring for the staff/caring for the soul, I became excited. This was one major reason why I decided to return to FORGE after cancer compelled me to take a six-month leave in 2000. I wanted so much to make a contribution in nurturing the staff of FORGE, the organization’s greatest resource.

Five years ago, we started the quarterly SST (sharing-sharing together as the staff would put it). With only eight staff then, each one would have all the time in the world to share one’s story and bond with each other. The staff found release for their creativity and playfulness in the group dynamics. These sessions also turned out to be therapeutic release of long-buried hurts and suppressed tears as we all grew in self-awareness.

I am still impressed when a staff asks to go on leave during a birthday in order to spend "alone-time" for reflection. Or to learn that a staff who used to take his family for granted "because the work mattered first and foremost" decided to go home to the province to spend time with his family during holidays. I would like to believe that these plus other beautiful developments in the personal lives of the staff are somehow influenced by the processes we undergo during SST.

It took a major crisis for me to realize that work was not everything in life. And with that, other realizations, which I have had shared with the staff in informal sharing as well as in formal reflection sessions are that work should be an expression of one’s commitment and one’s creative energies and not an escape from one’s self, from problems at home or in relationships; that relationships are as important as work and we must strive to lead balanced lives; that there is a life to be nurtured within each of us; that the journey towards wholeness involves nurturing body, mind and spirit.

And so, we use our creativity to ensure body-mind-spirit integration in our life and work in FORGE.

Before, we used to regard organizational activities like Annual Assessment and Planning as stressful with people getting headaches afterwards. Then, in one planning activity two years ago, we started the sessions with color breathing, inserted fun-moments in-between, wound up the day’s session enjoying the sea breeze and sweated out all the tensions through body movements. We realized that we could do the same work –maybe even better –and still have fun.

Last year, we started the practice of making the General Assembly (with Board members and staff) a fellowship. Last year’s theme was "Giving Thanks for All the Blessings." We realized we have been blessed in so many ways and we wanted to express our gratitude. After the serious deliberation on organizational matters, we went into body movements, reflection-sharing, shared prayer, group singing of progressive songs and Closing Ritual. It was truly a meaningful fellowship between Board and staff. It also deepened our insight into each other as co-workers and as fellow-travellers in this journey called Life.

Staff meetings whether at the Management Team level or project staff level start with either a reflective reading cum brief sharing after, short meditation or group prayer for each one’s personal concerns. When someone shares a problem, we usually send that staff our positive energies. Many a time I get feedback about the problem being solved the next day or sometime after. I guess we invite things into our lives when we give it our attention. Such experiences also deepen my faith in the Divine Presence in our day to day struggles.

Just as we take our work seriously in FORGE, we also take the time to laugh, to have clean fun together and to enjoy good food just as seriously. That is how we manage to keep our sanity especially when the pressures build up.

While we study to build up our knowledge base related to the work we do, we also have a small library with psycho-spiritual readings like Care of the Soul by Thomas More, the Tao of Leadership, Growing Strong in Broken Places, Healing the Inner Child, etc. A BMS (Body-Mind-Spirit) Wellness corner is maintained where one can read tips on healthcare, short anecdotes from Sufi wisdom to nurture the spirit, punchlines to ponder on, etc.

At the Annual Planning in January this year, we shared our New Year’s resolution with the whole staff. Then, we drew lots to choose our "earth angel," someone who will help us fulfill our resolutions. I am always touched when my "earth angel" texts me a reminder to take it easy. It feels good to know that one is with friends and not just co-workers.

This Thursday and Friday, the whole FORGE staff will take time off from work and spend two days in a southern coastal town to revel in nature, enjoy each other’s company, reflect and just let go. This is our first SST this year, long-overdue because of the recent national crisis and the feverish electoral activities.

Let me end this long sharing with excerpts from Thomas More’s book Care of the Soul - "Soul has something to do with genuineness and depth… soulfulness is tied to life in all its particulars – fulfilling work, meaningful relationships, personal power, good food, experiences that stay in the memory and touch the heart."

PHILSSA Holds Its 19th General Assembly

Nurturing the Spirit of Commitment and Passion for Social Transformation