By Bonnie Noble, RN, PhD, Resolana Board of Directors
Bonnie is Director of Patient Centeredness at Baylor Health Systems. She has served as a healthcare executive for many years and recently designed a performance management dashboard for California Prison Health Care Services.
My husband’s career landed us in Dallas in January 2011. A life-long Californian who calls San Francisco home, I quickly realized what a huge change living in Texas was going to be for us. I decided to look for some volunteer opportunities to help me get acquainted with my new community. Fran Tynan, the current chairwoman of the Resolana Board of Directors, was one of the first people that I met here in Dallas. We attended a class together at the Center for Non-Profit Management and became instant friends. Fran’s passion for Resolana’s work is contagious, and I soon found myself agreeing to meet her at the jail on a Friday night for a “5 Rhythms “dance class. I had a great time that first night and I have been back for several more sessions including writing, art, and a few community building courses.
A recent Friday evening spent in a writing class led by Jennifer McNabb was particularly meaningful for me. One of our assignments that evening was to write a poem. Jennifer shared a poem by famous American poet, William Carlos Williams, which was to serve as our inspiration. The general idea was to think of a time when an apology had been not entirely heartfelt. Most of the women were working in small groups and I was wandering around the room listening in and providing works of encouragement. Then, a poem of my own started to take shape in my head. Honestly, I’ve never before written a poem, but I found myself grabbing a pencil and hurrying to get my thoughts down on paper.
We each shared our poems that evening. Some were very funny and there was lots of laughter. Some were more serious, even sad, and prompted words of support and encouragement. Mine was the latter and I was touched by the compassion expressed by the Resolana women that night. One of my favorite quotes is from Maya Angelou’s book, Wouldn’t Take Nothing for My Journey Now - “I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver.” It’s so true that giving and receiving are inextricably linked creating a natural flow as basic and inhaling and exhaling. I am so grateful to Resolana – the staff, the board, the volunteers, and most of all, the women, for allowing me to give and to receive.
September 27, 2011 at 3:28 pm |
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