Reflections

The Doctor is In

• By fannieb
• May 8, 2015
• No Comments

I’m feeling a little bit like Lucy from the Peanuts comic strip. Over the last few days I’ve gotten random visits from coworkers stopping by my desk to chat – to chat about job interview answers, weekend plans, family, and upcoming vacations. And I have to say, I don’t mind it at all, especially when I’m getting the opportunity to learn about someone beyond their skill set at work. Learning about families and losses and fond Christmas memories of Santa Claus riding around the neighborhood on a fire engine breaks down the hollowness that I often feel at work. Whether it’s because of the everyday grind or because they tried to be human at work before and were shut down, there is this one-dimensional face that everyone wears. This emptiness is a quality that most of my coworkers have and is the cause, I believe, for the dead energy that pervades the building.

For me getting to know people is interesting. It gets me out of my story and out of my own mind. It reminds me that we are all human and have layers of experiences (many common) that shape us into who we are. Having these conversations is cathartic. They help me be more compassionate and understanding and I sense they make my coworkers a bit happier too, at least for a brief time. I think that maybe this is a huge missing piece at work that makes and keeps morale low. So many of us are perpetually thralled to the work we are trying to accomplish that who we are and who we are working with simply doesn’t seem to matter.

But it does matter because without the support and commitment from our coworkers, accomplishing anything is that much harder. And, not seeing beyond a person’s human capital sets us up for unnecessary stress and strife.

Photo Credit: JD Hancock