In this month’s blog post Fiona Cook, Director of Physis Scotland talks about seasons of life and in particular seasons for Physis Scotland.
Well, the lighter nights are here again, trees and plants are blossoming, and we are once again in another season. I am fascinated by seasons that we all experience individually and together and the reason I am fascinated by them is that they always pass and another season emerges. Seasons change and they can change us. I am not just talking about seasons of the year here, but also seasons of life and how they impact on us. I actually really like the season of Spring and the new beginnings and hopefulness it instills in me, but I know for others it does not evoke the same feelings. So, I am glad that whatever the season we might be experiencing either good or bad, it will pass.
In terms of a particular season we are all still experiencing, we remain in the grips of the season of COVID with all of its limitations, worry and isolation. How we structure our time and how we get
our psychological hungers met has been drastically altered in the last 12 months or so and no less so within Physis Scotland. We cannot believe that we have been working online with our students for a year. Some of us have never met physically in the flesh and we have no idea how short or tall, thin or curvy our physical attributes are. We can only see the head and shoulders of each other and yet we are making an impact on each other. We are connecting with each other. We are learning together. We are becoming a community together.
Thinking about some of the restrictions of COVID easing is an interesting concept to ponder on in terms of life becoming more normal again. What is normal anymore anyway? It feels strange to me that I will be able to be vaccinated, go out more and resume physical contact with others when I have not had that for so long. I yearn for it, and I am nervous about it too. I bumped into a couple of Physis students on two separate occasions recently when I was out walking on one occasion and out on my bike on the other! It was so beautiful to see them both when I was least expecting it. So lovely to see them in the flesh and yet it was also overwhelming even on a one-to-one basis. I felt shy and was left wondering how I might manage meeting a whole group again. It will definitely be another ‘season’ to consider.
Staying with Physis Scotland for the moment, we are in a new season as well. The Two Fionas or ‘Les Fis’ as we are affectionately known, have been running Physis for a couple of years on our own and the business is growing. In the lovely blog written earlier this year by our Marketing Consultant Fiona Melvin Farr, we accounted with gratitude for the growing constellation of friends and colleagues who have supported us and work with us; and yet there have been times when we have felt alone, unsure and vulnerable in our roles as Directors. It has felt really important for us to consider the way ahead and create a future and sustainable season not only for our Physis students, and colleagues but also for the growing TA community in Scotland and beyond.
To that end, we invited two of our highly respected friends and colleagues to join us as Directors of Physis Scotland and they said YES! So, Sheila Beare PTSTA who is a Core Tutor with us, and Jennie Miller PTSTA who runs the Certificate in Couples Work and who will be a Core Tutor this coming academic year have both joined us in leading Physis into the next Season, whatever that will be, and we are very excited! It is great to be able to plan and share together, consider our personal strengths and allowable weaknesses, and use all of these collaboratively to help shape the future season for Physis.
Spring has sprung. We hope that this is a good season for you whatever you are going through and if for any reason it is not, then please know it will pass.
Funny how within a good season for us we can sometimes experience snippets of a not so good season which could mar the other if we let it. I think you know that I love the book The Boy, The Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy which is full of wise sayings.
So, let’s account for all the seasons we may be experiencing presently – some will be good, and others may be not so good, and they will pass. And can all of us account for how far we have come as we move forward into the next season? We hope so.
