Fragments

Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Director, in Laborcare Journal editorial, talk about relationships that require commitment

By Gianluca Favero and Mariella Orsi

A Foreword
In Sardinia, it was customary to reuse glass from cups or glasses to create an apotropaic necklace called “su Sonatzolu o Schilirios” made of silver and, as anticipated, consisting of crystal or salvaged pieces of glass (drops from old chandeliers, caps from sacred oil cruets, stems from crystal chalices inside which dried flowers and herbs were hidden wrapped in brocade fabrics).

The title of this Laborcare Journal editorial is inspired by the Permanent School Seminar on Fragility held last June 15 at St. Francis Convent (where all of the School’s training events are held).

Inspired by the themes that characterized the various speeches, we thought to involve the various speakers by asking them to feed this issue of the reflections in morè voices on being fragile, on the awareness of the needs of those who are fragile and of the world that should welcome them.

Here, then, each Author offers us the chance to look up and go beyond the everyday to question the various fragments in which fragility is declined from the definition and broader meaning of the word itself.

Fragments that accompany the reader in questioning various aspects of fragility starting with that of the migrant, those who have lost their jobs, and those who feel estranged, invisible or excluded because they live marginalized or confined.

The various experiences and reflections allow us to highlight what each of us can do to meet the needs of the fragile people we encounter in our lives.

Unfortunately, our society exalts performances that become the target of lives, professional and practical careers while leaving “behind” those who, because of infirmity, disability or other specific conditions are relegated “to the sidelines.”

We take our cue from what Vittorino Andreoli states in his book “The Glass Man. The Strength of Fragility”: ” human fragility is inevitably connected with kindness, with gentleness, with sensitivity, with doubt, with uncertainty. All characteristics of humanity that drive us to meet the other, to build the relationship.

It is important not to be afraid to feel fragility, to feel limits….”

As Georges Tabacchi points out in his contribution, “ … relationships require commitment and therefore fatigue (…) choosing not to come to terms with one’s own and others’ fragility is tantamount, in addition to betraying part of one’s mission, to denying oneself and one’s humanity.”

Our whole life, whatever our profession, is based on accompaniment, that is, in feeling able to help and support the other, simultaneously learning more about ourselves in a reciprocity that makes us complementary.

Here is the importance, for those who perform caring functions, of feeling fragile and knowing how to ask for help for the super vision of their own experiences, avoiding perceiving as failure the fact that they cannot heal all the sick or suffering people who come to them.

Accompanying, consoling, caring, sharing emotions, are part of the experience of many caregivers and volunteers who, in different realities (at home, in RSAs, in hospitals, in hospices,…) are an integral and indispensable part of the system of care in support of fragile people.

Source

• Laborcare Journal    

Image

• Image digitally created by spazio + spadoni