Vacation? I Just Took a Trip Down Memory Lane!

{3:18 minutes to read} August is a big vacation month. The arc of the summer is waning; summer camp is ending. The kids are getting ready to go back to college, and the “back to school” commercials are blasting us already — rushing us to September. It’s a kind of a “now or never” chance to take that vacation/stay-cation, relax, and take a deep breath before autumn’s call to “back to everything….” begins.

I just took an excursion myself recently but I wouldn’t call it a vacation per se — more of a “trip down memory lane.” I was informed that the “shredding” company was coming to the office where I mediate and that anything I had that required proper disposal was to be brought to the office by a certain date the following week. So over the weekend, out came ALL my client files and, as I do every so often when a mass shredding opportunity is about to happen, I culled those files down to their essentials.

In order to do the right job, I had to put my hands on each and every client file. In opening them in my sunny porch room, which functioned as the staging area, I was instantly flooded with images of the very time and place, the tenor, mood, circumstance, issues, and ultimately the accomplishments of everyone who walked into my office. And those achievements could take the form of:

1. A successful conclusion to the mediation process—a signed Settlement Agreement and ultimately a divorce.
2. A reconciliation that may not have been possible had they not mediated.
3. A recognition that perhaps mediation was not an appropriate process.

I realized as I poured through my cases that I am not the same mediator I was when I began. My clients have taught me well! The years of experience; the education that I continue to pursue to hone my skills; the quality and integrity of the people with whom I have surrounded myself—who are equally dedicated to mediation—have held me in good stead all these years.

I have mediated close to 500 cases in the 14 years I have been called to do this work. Wow. There is not a day that goes by that I am not in awe of the task I have set for myself.

To say that I love what I do is truly an understatement. I relish the service I provide for my couples and am incredibly grateful to those who have put themselves in my care. I thank you one and all!

Now vacation or stay-cation? Hmmmm, perhaps best considered in the hammock.