[𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝟏𝟓] 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐟𝐞
𝟐𝟏 𝐃𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞, 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐦𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐢𝐝𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐲
[𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝟏𝟓] 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐟𝐞
There is a difference between needing someone to approve of your practice as it is a necessary step in progressing in your career and needing someone to approve of you because you want to be liked. Always ask yourself whether you’re looking for affection from someone you don’t need affection from. Ideally, we get mentorship from someone we like personally, and we like them too, but that’s not going to be the case all the time. There are so many ways of being a human being. There’s room for an extensive scope of midwives. We just need to co-operate and be civil, that’s all.
Aggression, name-calling, undermining, all that stuff - not cool. They should not be part of being at work. If you’re experiencing bullying, I’m so sorry to hear about that, it’s incredibly difficult. I refer you to this list from my book (below). But if you’re just feeling awkward because the Venn diagram of your personality doesn’t have any overlap with your boss/supervisor/work gang, don’t worry about it. Just keep being you, and the truth about your ability will be known eventually.
I have a few midwives who I’m on the same page with, and we get on socially. But there are plenty of others who are just colleagues. I like watching people who are different from me. You never know what they’re going to do next. In the meantime, even though I’m an atheist, I quite like doing a quick universe prayer for people who I don’t automatically gel with. Helps me have good thoughts about them, I think they pick up on that energy, and all is well.
The great thing about this stance of 'it's okay if you don't like me' is it gives you somewhere safe to stand. It’s much more restful to know that you’re not looking for a moral assessment of who you are. And then, if you just take people as people, as opposed to an assault on your character, you'll relax and find it easier to work at a high level.
As you might have guessed, I'm writing to remind myself of all this.
All my best, Ellie.