Working to Heal, in the time of Pandemic
with Morgan Fitzpatrick
“Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach.”
― Clarissa Pinkola Estés
Welcome back to MEND,
A place where we explore the edges.
Where we lean into the larger tapestry to see where, exactly, WE are being called to play a part in the larger healing of this world.
What is our work?
What is ours to care for?
Catastrophe has a way of making things clear.
For here we all are - sequestered in our own homes, many of us unable to work for pay, struggling to tend to the daily, domestic work of childcare, schooling, meals, etc - watching the global economy crumble around and beneath us.
So, the question:
What is our work right now?
takes on entirely new meaning in the light of global disaster.
To attempt to answer that, I’ve chosen to bring on for this first Season 4 episode, my friend who is working inside the front lines of this question everyday:
My guest today is Morgan Fitzpatrick - A Nurse Practitioner living in the heart of Seatlle right now - where the virus hit early on. Morgan is originally from Canada, but spent most of her childhood on a ranch in rural California. Which, may I say, is how I came to know her. We grew up in the same tiny town in the foothills of the Sierras. Her husband works in tech, and together they have a precocious and brilliant daughter named Frida, who they are tending together in this new world, as she continues to go to work at the nearby clinic and work with an incredibly marginalized population and he learns the ropes of working and child-rearing & schooling from home.
Morgan earned her BA from UC Berkeley in 2002 and went on to gain her Masters in Public Health from San Francisco State University in 2007.
We spoke last week on a Thursday.
And I want to say - to her and all of you -in an effort to get this talk out to you in a timely fashion, I did a very light editing job here - so pardon the” umms” & pauses I normally take out.
She was gracious enough to take some time before she was due at the clinic and share her thoughts and expertise on the current situation.
We talked about what it looks like in her current city.
But also the larger parameters for health - not just physcial, but mental & emotional for many - worldwide.
And how we can better care for ourselves and each other during this time.
Beyond just hand-washing and self-quarantining, Morgan shared her advice on what we could be doing at this time to be of benefit. And, as Mothers of two young children, we found a way to loop in some wisdom from the Disney song catalog, as well.
I know that you’ll find in here some well-thought out ideas on how to move forward at this time, and what to keep in mind.
After we spoke, Morgan texted me to tell me she’d thought of about 10 other things that she wanted to share. But I want to say right now - as touchy-feely as it may sound - that I believe in the holy synchronicty of these conversations. I believe that whatever is shared here - is the exact right thing at the exact right time - going out to exactly who needs to be hearing it.
If you find yourself here, lsitening to thse words - I pray - may they be of benefit.
May they bolster & inform you at this time.
May they remind you of your own holy work and efforts and obligation to this moment in human history.
And as always, may they remind you of the powerful thread that YOU carry at this time - and help you learn into your own corner of the larger web.