Since I last wrote, very little of consequence has happened in the Wright household. I (begrudgingly) returned to work after a week of rest and my quest to liberate the
Agol star system. My work at the agency has begun to stir back to life after a brief winter's hibernation. Although it's a positively balmy thirty-one degrees as I write this and I'm literally wearing a short-sleeve polo shirt due to the broiler of an office that I work in, it's still far too cold to be without heat and many clients are beginning to call to seek assistance for their energy bills; I anticipate some back-to-back meetings in the near future.
My evenings have been spent learning more and more about the lives of clients, asinine public policies, and how to inspire and interact with others through classes. Yesterday evening I presented to my classroom a literature review of
William Julius Wilson's The Truly Disadvantaged and how its (
outdated and repudiated) views differ vastly from a social work perspective. It was an interesting moment because that particular book really inspired me to want to understand inner-city life and modern African-American life and set me on the path I walk today; at the same time, I understand now I hoped to understand these endlessly complex issues in the same way one might understand a mathematical formula and from that point simply
know it. Of course social work doesn't allow for a one size fits all approach, so the process of learning is never ending; at least I have the common sense to know that now.
I've begun to read "Why Does He Do That," as part of my responsibilities surrounding my internship. The author,
Lundy Bancroft, seems to deeply understand the common threads running between abusers who are found in every class and color strata. He hones in on the idea of
selfishness, which prompts abusers to center themselves even in the thoughts of others. As I've begun this internship and studied the behaviors and
cognitions of the men in the groups, I've searched for and found many points of divergence; however, I understand that I also have a tendency to be self-centered and to put my needs first and it's scary to wonder how little space might exist between the chairs we sit in.
I've left the sterile domed farms of
Agol for the salty mist of the
open sea. I've only just dusted off my nearly-orphaned
DS to begin "Phantom Hourglass," but I'm both halfway through and having an absolute blast recovering the incognito princess. In fact, even though I find the game derivative and mourn the relative lack of new music or weapons, I absolutely love this charming swashbuckling yarn, saying all you really need to know about the Zelda series. I'll be sure to report back on my progress as warranted.
Speaking of the open sea,
Chavonne and I are scraping ourselves from the icy climes of Pittsburgh and vacationing in
Baltimore in early May! Given our heritage in the dusty and scorched plains, we know nothing of the harbor and its ways and if anyone can recommend some things to do (outside of
Obrycki's Crab House and the
National Aquarium but probably not in that order; thanks
Man V. Food!) we'd be glad to hear them.
Stay warm and stay in love people.
When I last wrote, I didn't anticipate how vastly my physical environment would change nor the impact this would have on my time. A well documented and furious storm hit the mid-Atlantic region last week forcing individuals to strand their cars, abandon their homes, and leaving thousands without power. At the Wright household, snow is a foot high even today and there's little indication of it thawing anytime soon.
As a result of this, however, the agency CANCELED WORK for the duration of the week owing to the difficulty of ascending the hills of south Pittsburgh to physically reach our offices so needless to say, this has been the finest week of my career thus far. I
bided my time cleaning and maintaining the house for
Chavonne (who sadly did not receive the gift I did) and gaming endlessly. I explored the austere planet of
Algo and learned the shocking secret behind the Mother Brain. It's been absolutely wonderful to be home with my snoozing pups and this break was just what I needed.
Although it's cold and
miserable outside, things are once again looking bright for the Wrights.
First, I believe I owe the greater Internet an apology for not updating on a regular or even semi-regular basis. Unfortunately, I can't even justifiably point to the demons of employment or homework as the culprit as it was a general sense of fatigue and inertia that was responsible.
As is quickly becoming a trend, work at the agency has been absurdly and guiltily slow. Since the 21st of January, half a lifetime ago it seems, I've seen only three clients in the form of appointments and haven't really innovated any of the intakes or recording processes that I'm waist deep in on a daily basis. Other than physically transforming the office in Allentown to accommodate our newest co-
locators NeighborWorks of Western Pennsylvania and the Hilltop Alliance, there has been next to nothing to do each day. Fortunately, this trend has allowed me to focus on learning about social work more thoroughly.
My evening classes, although hamstrung by the inherent fact that they take place after an eight-hour day, have been frighteningly enjoyable. I've learned far more than I thought I would ever care to about brain structures, childhood development and trauma, and the
DSM-IV of all things. I, who enjoy science to the approximate extent that I enjoy exercise, have truly learned a great deal about holistic assessments of physical and mental health and the subtle signs beneath the surface of one's behavior and language. It's intoxicating, to be honest, to have one's eyes opened to a new level of interaction and to have developed some new insight into the world, if only fumblingly and partially.
I also started the MEN/S (Men Embracing Non-Violence and Safety) Group through the Women's Center and Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh as part of my internship. I'm working with a no-nonsense (to put it mildly) advocate who challenges and elicits responses from clients in a way that I've never seen. The men in the groups are largely court-mandated as a result of past violence and there are two Monday evening groups that take place as a forum for the clients to discuss their mistakes and, hopefully, change their behavior. I was surprised how little I was intimidated by the men in the group, and how eloquent and self-aware most of them seemed to be, with the exception of one absolute martyr. I'm excited to challenge myself and my misconceptions further and to simply do good work.
Chavonne and I are continuing to grow closer in our relationship. We've begun to wake up with one another again as I am now to arrive at the agency at eight in the morning to accommodate the half-day I take on Mondays for my internship. As a result, we've gotten to build one another up before we begin the day and to simply have that much more time together as a result, which is great. Our weekends continue to be spent in stasis as the bizarre hours, demanding work schedules, and insane internships dish out brutal punishment during the week. For now, though, simply reclining by my honey is enough.
