I often tell others I have been a therapist my entire life, even beginning in grade school. Among my peers, I would develop short term friendships of individuals in need, assist with the concern, then we would grow apart – their secrets safe in my heart. While I am now a secret-keeper for a living, there is certainly a humility to this responsibility – for each secret contains the story, hopes, fears, excitement, and pain of the individual who told it to me. I treasure the chance to walk with those who share their lives with me for however long our paths overlap, knowing one day they’ll be on their way to different places. While I may not always see the end of each journey, the chapters I am tasked with assisting with I take seriously. I genuinely do not feel I work a day in my life not because it isn’t difficult sometimes, but because I couldn’t see myself doing anything else.
“Not all who wander are lost.” – Tolkien