I work in community mental health and have a lot of personal and professional experience with various forms of mental wellness, life planning, self organization…In our work Dana was a consummate professional; kind, organized, thorough, practical, inspired. One of the sparks and distinction of her practice is that she brought me through a process that connected me with my heart’s desires (a game-changer in and of itself) while remaining fiercely passionate that my empowered connection to my visions of happiness are of vital importance to collective justice and equity work. She expressed a belief in our interconnectedness as humans and the power of working from a joyful vision as a foundation for larger social change. To fully access this work, I had to overcome a sense that my happiness and vision are somehow self-indulgent.
Dana’s strong feminist and social justice orientation supported unpacking of social training that teaches lack, hierarchy, and exclusion. Plus she is funny. She walked with me through this in a kind, bold, and hilarious way that challenged and inspired me.
In this process, long-held, barely articulated dreams of mine were made clear and have since come true! It has been a strange and wonderful unfurling because materially the realization of these visions has sometimes been different from how I planned. The emotional core, the way I feel, with the career, relationship, social, and health changes outlined with Dana and now realized has surpassed my sense of what is possible. I felt committed to my work and life, but I now feel energized by the ongoing refining of my happiness and ways it supports social justice. What a gift.