Ease The Burden

Ease The Burden

John Paul Derryberry

As I fully enter the second stage of my social work career, there are some glaring revelations about my chosen career path. My role as an agency leader pulls me more away from client interaction and into training staff, laying a vision for my team, and championing inclusion and pathways for people with disabilities. It has been a remarkable career as I have worked with almost every age group and possible diagnosis over the last 20 years. And there is one thing I would love to go back in time to tell my younger self to do more.

It's not some grand gesture or insight that would have changed the course of society, if I had started doing this 20 years ago. It's, in fact, probably a piece of advice at which most people in this field would roll their eyes. But bouncing around the field and working with all ages, unique backgrounds, and numerous diagnoses, I believe now, more than ever, people are people. The separation language we have created, to build invisible barriers between us and others, is just a figment of our imagination. Everyone has hopes, dreams, and stuff that happened to us in the past, that we give too much weight to in how we navigate the world today.

And that's where the message I wish I could send back to a younger John begins. We are a lot more alike than different, and we should ease the burden others carry. That's the job and, ultimately, the job's best part. Seeing the reaction of folks for whom we do just enough to ease their burden, is always an uplifting experience. Recognizing that others carry too much and need a lighter load, you can also carry some of your life weight. It's a sign of respect that every human could ease their burdens, but also a sign of care, that you have carried a lot, for a long time.

The number of people I have interacted with that wanted to be saved is very small. There is a sense of pride in their life. We often attempt to take that away, to force them into being saved, and abandoning what they know about themselves, their life history, and what they used to survive the world's cruelty. The approach to easing the burden is more connective, compassionate, and human. It's a gift to say, I'll hold this while you work through that; it's a gift that has been offered to me from time to time. I'm at my best when I do that for others, nothing more, nothing less.