Where the heck is the Art?

You know you're in the boonies in New Brunswick when the most available and cleanest washroom is located in a Gun and Hunting store that also oversees the only gas pumps in town. And you know you're in a place halted by poverty and dried up potential when a dollar store can't even make a go of it. It's a strange feeling to have to walk past the morning clutch of coffee drinking off season hunters, to stroll by the eye blinding orange and butt ugly camoflauge paraphenalia, to sidestep the display of decoys for all occasions and then to pass through the small doorway nestle amongst the wide ranging array of rifles just to find the ladies room. But, I've been in this neck of the woods, and know that I can count on the cleaniness of the facilities. Since the whole scenario is so foreign from what I am used to, it's interestingly absurd to me.

And real.

I was on the road today to visit clients in their homes; to hear their stories and to assess their health situations. It's a part of my job that I do find the most fulfilling. I'm away from my desk, away from the hubbub of an office that becomes more technocratic and numbers driven by the day. I'm free to drive with my latest CD love on full blast (at the moment it happens to be the Boss singing Pete Seeger................love it!) I'm free to stop and take photos if my eye finds something appealing. And, most importantly, I am free to engage with people who have stories to tell and who need my help.

Human services at it's basic best. The art of connecting with someone and really listening to what they have to say and how they say it. Who in their right mind would consider entering the field of social services or human services if they didn't want to engage with other people?

You know what? LOTS! Now, I don't know whether they are in their right minds............ because it's as alien to me as the gun shop............ but Human services, whether it's front line, or whether it's training the front line, or whether it's Management related, or whether it's Human Resources are all being squeezed into a numbers and computer driven bubble. People in this field are becoming more and more obsessed with output and input and exits (a term used around here to indicate that someone has been "terminated"........yes that's a term used too) from the system. Quantity driven human resources.

How awful. How unreal

So, what happens to the Artists? Well, for one thing, the science related data reports continue to pile up and fester on their desks, and then swamp them, taking them away from what they do best.

And the Artists who are trying to break into the field of Human Resources these days? Well......................they are being interviewed by techno headed individuals whose robotic thoughts don't compute the beauty of the Artist's creativity............. they don't get the need to have people with pulsating hearts and warm handshakes and big smiles..............people who will look another person in the eyes and say, "tell me your story. I'm listening.".............. and consequently will continue to hire their kin. They are not being allowed in. Their talents and skills are being wasted.

So......................this spring/summer. I'm hitting the road more often, to take the backroads of this province, and visit the clients who need my help. The science part? I'll just try not to let it swamp me. The art of human services is out in the boonies................ you just gotta go out and find it.

It's the Art that's real