Yesterday, when I was presenting about my Coping and Healing groups to social work interns, we had a discussion about the obligation and wish to do no harm.
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Therapists, of course, avoid causing harm, pain, or suffering to patients during care; however, we can also feel paralyzing self doubt because of the fear of “saying the wrong thing.” I told the interns that people in my groups wished to do no harm, sometimes caused temporary pain in each other anyway, discussed that, and grew from the experience.
I try to do no harm when I ask questions.
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Perhaps it’s a no brainer that despite your best intentions, someone may feel hurt.
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I hope to do no harm by sharing my song “Triggers” right now.
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I’ll try to do no harm with my other images for today.
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I hope it will do no harm that today is International Sword Swallowers Day. I believe it will do no harm to share this photo on National Chocolate Souffle Day.
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Here’s what I find when I search for “do no harm” on YouTube:
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Thanks to all who do their best to do no harm, including YOU.
I suspect it’s impossible to go through life without doing harm, whether advertently or in-. I, for instance, was not the mother to my son that he might have wanted, largely because I didn’t want to be like MY mother, a grandmother he adored. She cooked and baked and fussed over him (and all of us). I found it suffocating and was happy to escape. It’s more complicated than that, but suffice it to say that I fussed more over my daughter, and SHE wanted to escape. The result: I am much closer to my daughter, who lives 2,000 miles away, today than I am with my son, who lives in the next room. Ah, well.
You do no harm here, Barbara.
I was debating with a friend whether bears are “wise”. He said a three-year old child has more wisdom than a bear ever could. I replied that humans are animals and that our intelligence isn’t special, that many other animals demonstrate abilities we used to think of as “uniquely human”, and that while our brains are bigger that doesn’t mean better. I hope I didn’t do any harm by being so argumentative.
I can’t imagine you ever doing harm, my friend.
A great song that you wrote, and shared here, Anne! X
You’re so great, Carol Anne!
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