Dear social Worker, Merry Christmas, This is your
Christmas podcast episode. I'm your host, Lee Suran, and
I'm excited to share a unique and inspiring journey with you
today. This episode is titled The
Guiding Star. As Social Workers this year
we've navigated the intricate constellations of human
experiences, often becoming the guiding stars for those in need.
But have you ever considered the profound impact that the idea of
a guiding star can have on your journey?
Today we're going to embark on a different kind of exploration,
one that transcends our daily challenges and celebrates the
profound blessings of this season.
I want you to picture this A quiet evening, a sky filled with
stars, and in the East, a single radiant star that outshines them
all. This star, the guiding star, has
been a symbol of hope and direction for centuries.
In our roles as social workers, we too can embody the essence of
this guiding star. The guiding star in its
brilliance reminds us that even in the darkest nights, there is
a light that beckons us forward. And as social workers, we often
encounter individuals facing their own metaphorical dark
nights, and we become their beacons of hope, casting light
unto their path. But what if, in addition to
guiding others, we allowed ourselves to be guided?
What if we recognise that, just like the guiding star, we have a
light within us that can lead us to new places this Christmas
season? Let's embrace the spirit of the
guiding star. Imagine it as a metaphorical
compass directing us not only in our professional endeavours, but
also in our personal growth and well-being.
That's why you listen to this podcast, right?
Not because it's 100% focused on improving practice, How to write
an assessment, how to run a meeting.
We talk about you, the person behind the title.
I'm going to share a quick story here.
Yesterday after I left church in the afternoon.
It was about 3:00 in the afternoon and I'd realised that
I hadn't bought a particular item for Christmas dinner.
Actually, let me, let me be 100. Let me be honest with you.
I forgot the custard. OK?
I needed to get the custard. So I popped into shop to get
this custard and I saw one of my mum's neighbours.
Now my mum and I both went to church together yesterday.
But I said, oh, I recognise you, she said, Oh oh, it's so lovely
to see you. And she, this hug came out of
nowhere. I've never hugged this woman in
my life. I've seen her for, you know, so
many times, but I've never hugged her in my life And it it
felt a bit awkward for me. But what I picked up is that she
needed that hug now. After she said it was so lovely
to see you, she then proceeded to tell me about some
difficulties she was having with her husband, that he'd been
unwell. Now I was unaware of this.
She's not my neighbour respectively so respect
respectfully. Oh my goodness, can't get my
words out. Anyway, Fast forward a couple of
minutes, my mum followed through and obviously she recognised my
mum, so she was more familiar with her and she started telling
my mum way more about what was happening with her husband and
he had a catheter and there was just so many difficulties that
she was going through with the nurses and the support system.
She wasn't looking forward to Christmas and her her daughter
lives down South somewhere and she won't be coming up for
Christmas. There was just a load of things
and you could tell she just needed a place to unload.
And she said to me, I need you to pray for me and I said, oh,
we've we've just come from church, she says.
I know, but I need, I need you to to really pray for me and
keep me in your prayers. And then she was like, oh so
lovely to see and she gave me this another massive hug which
came out of nowhere. So you can imagine my face I'm
trying to put to be polite alongside like, oh this feels
awkward. The reason why I'm telling you
that is in that moment that Lady definitely felt like I was or we
was, as in my mum and I were her guiding star.
And sometimes being someone else's guiding star doesn't just
it's not something you plan for. That scenario yesterday was pure
happenstance, and I'll be thinking of her today as she
tries to care for a husband on a day like this with no family.
And you know, she was feeling really low.
And I think today we just have to be grateful for what we have
because sometimes, you know, we can take for granted.
We can take for granted what is for us and what we have, what we
have around us, because we're always looking to the future or
looking behind. And sometimes we're just not
well, sometimes we're just not standing in the now being
present. And there's going to be many
families, the families that you work with and families of our
own family members, you know, strangers that we don't know and
don't know of at all, who are not going to have the best day
today. But in this episode, I want you
to a remember, recall. Don't forget whatever label you
want to put on it, but don't forget that you have been a
guiding star to at least one person this year.
And that's enough. BI want you to pray for those
that need a guiding star today, this week and C if you haven't
already found it, pray that you also.
We'll have a guiding star now. In the spirit of this guiding
star, consider setting an intention for the coming year, a
light to guide your journey. It could be a commitment to
self-care or professional development, a resolution to
explore new avenues of joy, fulfilment.
Just as the guiding star brought together me and you on this
podcast. Then before I carry on, I just
want to give a massive thanks to every single person that's
listening. Every single one of you mean the
world to me. Every single one of you that
listens to the sound of my voice on a weekly basis.
Thank you. I do this for you.
I don't do it for no other purpose but for you and to be
able to speak directly to you and to get messages back from
you. It really is so encouraging and
reassuring. So I'm I've got an ask of you
actually just puffed into my mind.
You can be my guiding stars and just give me feedback.
Just send me an e-mail or Adm just to say enjoy this episode.
It helped me with XI Love receiving messages to hearing
how this podcast has had an impact on your life or being a
guiding star for you at particular times.
And this, I guess, will be a good moment to share some of the
messages I've received, starting with one I received on LinkedIn.
It was a message about my podcast episode which covered
burnout and it helps someone to realise that they were already
in burnout. They didn't feel like before
they listen to the podcast that they were, they suspected they
were heading in that direction. But actually the podcast helped
them realise that's what they were actually experiencing and
it gave them reassurance, a, for self-awareness, but B about what
to do next, how to support themselves.
And that brought me such joy because as part of that message,
that person said to me, and I was going to pick up my laptop
this weekend. I was going to pick up my laptop
this weekend. And because I've heard that and
I understand where I am right now, emotionally, physically,
I'm not going to do that. And when I get in on Monday, I'm
going to speak to my manager, XY and Z.
And that was such a a lovely message because that's what the
episode is for. It's to help raise your
awareness but also help you take action.
Another message I received was actually through my PEN site
account, which is the Social Work Coaching Hub platform and
if you don't know, get to know Social Work coaching hub.com.
You can join the platform from there, and there was a lady
who'd written in one of the forms who got a download.
He said that I've been following you for a while and it's made
such a difference to my student journey because now I can
prepare. She's using these podcasts to
prepare for what being a qualified social worker may look
like, feel like, etcetera. And that was lovely to receive
that message. And lastly, I would say my
messages on Instagram, shout out to all my Instagram followers,
We DM each other, we say hi to each other, You speak to me, I
speak to you. And thank you so much all of you
for your support. I think this year I started
maybe with a hundred 200 followers.
I'd need to double check, don't quote me.
And now I'm heading towards 800 followers this year, which is
amazing. It's just amazing.
So thank you for believing in me, believing in the information
that I'm sharing with you, and I pray it continues now and
forevermore to be of help to you.
Getting back to the regular schedule programme.
We're just going to wrap up here talking about the guiding star
because we're all joined together, you and I.
We're like a podcast family now and we're joined together via a
guiding star. You're my guiding star and this
podcast is your guiding star to support you through your week.
So let us say Community of social workers come together in
support and celebration. When you journal over this break
period, when you speak to your colleagues or your friends,
share some of your Guiding star moments.
Maybe you share some of those guiding style moments before you
eat your your Christmas dinner. Inspire each other to reach new
heights. Next year, and I'm terming next
year, I'm going to theme the whole year as the Year of
expansion, the year of expansion.
It feels vast. It feels limitless.
It feels greater than that is the space we want to be walking
in next year. Because as the guiding star, you
are capable of illuminating the lives of others and, equally
important, your own. So may this season bring you
joy, renewed purpose and the warmth of shared moments just
like this one. Now I said to you last week and
probably the week before, I wasn't going to record on
Christmas Day. I was going to recall before
this morning I woke up at about four AMI, went to bed.
It was about 8:30 yesterday. I needed my beauty rest, but
clearly my body was like, hey, we've we've slept enough.
Now it's time to get up. So I am making this podcast in
the dead of the night where the sky is completely pitch black
with the stars and actually it feels beautiful, calm and it
feels just right. There was something about pre
recording a Christmas episode that didn't as as the course of
the week went on, it just didn't sit very comfortably.
I wasn't uncomfortable with it. I'm sure there's lots of people
out there who are pre recording Christmas stuff, but I wanted to
make sure this was authentic. It's an important episode,
right? But I'm so pleased that I
waited. Because look what happened
yesterday when I saw that Lady in in the shop.
Until next time, remember, you are not alone on your social
work journey. You are not alone on your
personal growth journey. I'm going to be making some
changes to the way my business is going to be running next
year. There's going to be some
significant changes to that. I'm going to be introducing
group workshops. Coaching will be more accessible
in Group format if that will be your choice.
I'll be doing events throughout the whole year, so make sure you
get your name on the list. If your name is not on the list,
you will not get the update about the events.
You will not have access to the tickets, so if you want to
attend a Social Work Coaching Hub event next year, we've got
Paint and Chill, which is going to be a socialising event and
then for those who want to paint, there'll be a section for
you to do that. We're going to have the
Empowering Social Work conference.
That's going to be London. Can't Wait for That.
That's for social Celebrate Social Work Month.
And we're also going to have the award show.
We've got a Christian Social Workers brunch happening in
London and in Birmingham. So if you're interested in any
of those events, get your name on the list that corresponds
with the event that you'd like to attend.
If you don't have your name on the list, you won't have access
to the tickets. On that note, stay inspired,
stay compassionate, and let your guiding star shine bright.
God bless you and have a wonderful Christmas week.
I'll see you on New Year's Day.