It’s not every day, or any old occasion, that sees me happily bundle myself up the A90 to Aberdeen at 6 am on a cold, periodically snowy, morning in April.
Then again, it’s not every day that I’m invited to contribute to such an important conversation; a conversation to start a movement, no less, raising the profile of Mental Health in the Energy Sector.
I joined the panel for Mental Health in Energy event masking an inner emotional state best described as imposter syndrome with a sprinkling of terror – oh, and a slight concern that my hair had gone haywire in the walk from the car, or that I might get a parking ticket…but I digress.
The energy industry had sent a rallying cry and it had been answered.
The room was packed. The challenge is considerable. The aim, to create a charter and a new gold standard for supporting the emotional health and wellbeing of an entire workforce.
Questions and answers sitting on the shoulders of the few that will have an impact on the many for decades to come.
© Supplied by Kenny Elrick/DC ThomWhen people spoke, they spoke with clarity, with passion and with clear deference to the urgency and importance of the task.
As is requested of a panel member in these moments, I tried to share my thoughts; to articulate my observations and my views as best I could.
I could have talked for hours. I’m fairly sure it will have come as a relief to all that I did not, but what I can only hope that I imparted is my sense that for all the complexity, for all the questions, for all the challenges and concerns we already have all that we need to make things better, what we need is the safety, the courage to dig deep into our own experience as human beings and find a way to bring all that we are into the conversation.
It is our very humanity that is the key to creating safety around us, the skill that we need to reach out to and support others in their tougher moments.
With this in mind the biggest question for me is this. Not what do I wait for my industry to do (though the power of this can not be underestimated) but, rather, what can I do? Here? Now? With this very person I’m sharing time with? How can I let them know that I respect them? Value their unique experience? How can I be there for them, to share their good moments and maybe, then, the tougher ones too? And put like this it’s not so scary, because if we all played our part our communities would feel different.
We can BE the change from wherever we are in a structure, we can lead whatever our role. If resilience is a we thing not just an I thing then we can get started right away.
Create a wave of connection and belonging so powerful that it will sweep the doubtful up and bring them too.
Together we are unstoppable. As one of the audience later said, if we each cared for and made time for those around us and simply started with kindness we would instantly change the landscape.
As I left the conference I was reminded of the words of Emma Watson. “If not now, when?
“If not you, then who?”
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