The next stage

It has been a very interesting week at Craig’s Table; each group of participants now averages 2 people who grab hold of the future and bring it into being. 

This week was no different, this week some workers compensation officials arrived to discus “the next stage” with of the participants. 

What was different was the approach the officials took, one of them “asked permission” to enter into a conversation about all that is possible, there wasn’t any pre-written plan or preconceived outcome, there was just a tour of Craig’s Table; everything from the various rooms (The Quiet Room, The Chat Room, the Break-out Room, The Training Room, The “Lounge Room”) the then Community Garden and the Opportunity Shop and the hen run, then the worm farm and where the native bees will go when they arrive in October, the whole time the chatting continued. At this stage it was just a tour of Craig’s Table with the placement being the “tour guide” and answering all the questions that came and added the parts of the program this participant found supportive and which part challenged and expanded the thought processes for the participant. All the while it was clear that this official was learning as much about Craig’s Table and all that is on offer as anything else. 

Then and only then did the discussion turn to “where next”; again, this official invited the conversation to start at a level the participant was comfortable with. To say that the conversation was excited is an understatement.  After about half an hour, a concept was forming, but that is all it was, a few notes on a sheet of paper, nothing on an official form, just notes that reflected all that had been discussed. We all know that this official will return in a week or so and a plan will have been written up, and we all know that the plan will be both inclusive and supportive, and it will be as solid as any such plan can be. The reason this plan will be solid is because it started with the “permission” being asked for by the “official” and given by the participant. Mutual respect was clear to see and easy to feel.

The other “official” was not so flexible. 

There was no tour of Craig’s Table, there was no understanding of what is in place or why it is there; instead a pre-written plan was in place, the “official” informed the participant that the future as directed by the participant was not a part of the “3 types of employment” as was discovered by a nebulous assessment. 

What this “official” was not prepared for the participant to simply say “thank you for your plan, it doesn’t work for me”  

Till the participant had arrived at Craig’s Table there had been no push back, no question of submission to a direction from the “official”. And now the participant has had time to stop running from one place to another to another, the participant has had time to reflect on all that has gone past and glimpse what the future can offer; but more than that this participant has had conversations with the others at Craig’s Table and through all of it, this participant has arrived at what is the path forward for this particular participant. 

For me it was a pleasure to listen to the conversation, to hear the polite but defined tone of voice from the participant, and the less the certain tone that the “official” was using. Pre-Craig’s Table this participant would not have stood up let alone hold ground. When the ‘official” left the pre-written plan was not in place, the “official” left with the agreement to re-visit the plan and seek guidance to put the participant desired plan in place.

What stood out for me was the difference of approach from both “officials” and how the engaged or failed to engage the participants they had come to Craig’s Table to visit. 

What also stood out for me was the persona of the participants. In fact, both of the participants are very different, their outlook on life is very different, they only have two things in common, they both have a compensable workplace injury and they are both participants at Craig’s Table.  They way these participants supported each other and how the group supported both of them has to be seen to be understood. 

There was no denigrating of the rigid approach, nothing to indicate that the rigid “official” will not return with a different outlook, there was just the determination that future will be supportive of all possibilities. All of it came from the way Craig’s Table dovetails growing of self-knowing and self-determination into place.

There are time when at the end of the day I sit in the corner of the office, the buildings are silent; I sit there and I wonder about the small ripples of true change that are now going out into the workers compensation world with Craig’s Table at the epee centre. I wonder how long it will be before Craig’s Table is just accepted as the right place for people from the injured worker community to be, then I cross my fingers and hope that it is a quick journey for everyone. It may sound selfish, but I sleep better at night knowing that Craig’s Table has returned the morrow to the participants and along with the morrow there are now boundless opportunities for each of them to explore. 

On that note it is time for me to be sleeping.

Yours in service
Rosemary

www.craigstable.net.au

rosemary@craigstable.net.au

SKYPE Rosemary2412 

10^th August 2018