This weekend I graduated from the Caritas Coaching Program! It was a truly amazing experience and I am grateful for the opportunity. We had to write our own Caritas Philosophy as our last assignment. It seems the most simple way to describe Caring Science is that it all comes back to love. But here is what I wrote: ❤️Coming together with patience, love and mercy to foster a sense of belonging. Seeing others for who they are and knowing they are not so different from you. Understanding that people have basic needs including nourishment of the body and soul, touch, relationships, spirituality and health. Recognize that others want to be heard, and then listen. Humor is often a way to reach someone and develop trust, demonstrate empathy and share love. Read the room. If you are tired, lonely, frustrated, hungry or feeling anxiety or stress, tend to yourself first before you tend to others. Taking time to center. Be creative and focused on solutions and plans that are in alignment with what you hear the client, coworker, friend or family member is saying and the values they have shared with you. Connect through love and in the end, know where your heart is and follow where it’s taking you. ❤️ It's one of the great lessons we learn in this life and often it takes great loss to really know how important it is, that we love one another. Truly. As Jean Watson said, "We need to go out into the world and be the light." #philtheworldwithlove #thekeyisthekey #caritascoach #caringscience #EEMAHL #EddieMyNewBestFriend #Love #Selfcare #Countto20 #Nowstartover (at Watson Caring Science Center)