Outreach work in the communities we serve is at the heart of what Harmless and The Tomorrow Project stand for. Our colleague Maanika Aggarwal shares some reflections on a recent event she attended in Mansfield.
I find myself asking the same question again and again: what truly is my role in the world, as a support worker and an agent of social change? I often struggle with small talk, with public speaking, and behaving in ways that are generally expected. Outreach and public events are especially hard for me. Before each one, I have to prepare myself for the social anxiety I know will come and today was no different. I was extremely nervous before and during the Stepping Stones event organised by Mansfield Museum and the Department for Work & Pensions. I overthought every interaction, tapped my leg constantly, tried to keep myself grounded.
Just before we were about to pack up for the day, someone approached me and shared how much distress they were in and said that they couldn’t take it anymore. As we spoke, they told me about the ways they felt different from most people, about how consciously they moved through the world instead of simply following what is considered ‘normal’.
By ‘different’, I don’t mean wrong or right. I mean that they see the world, and themselves, through their own eyes rather than through the expectations of others.
After a while, they said something that stayed with me: they hadn’t realised they were allowed to say these things out loud to anyone and that they could ever receive support while being their true self. And in that moment, I realised something –
that is the problem.
That is the problem for so many people in distress.
When someone’s way of being does not conform to the norm, they are often made to feel abnormal or wrong. Not because they are but because difference threatens systems and institutions that rely on power and control.
That interaction reminded me of my role – at outreach events, with my clients, and in the world. It reminded me that my job is not to tell people who they should be, what is right for them, or how to live. It is not to give them power or empower them with the solutions/advice that has worked for others.
It is to make sure I do not take their power away. It is to listen to them in a way that doesn’t threaten their uniqueness but helps them find a way to accept it.
