Help - A Powerful Tool That Reminds Us of Our Interdependence

Visit the crowdfunding campaign to support the publication of this book: https://pubslush.com/project/6092

I have spent a great deal of my life feeling and being independent. Perhaps I was born with some sense of it but I do think that experiences in my life reinforced it as I adopted an “I can take care of myself” or “I’ll do it all alone” mentality. In many ways, this way of living and believing did work to my benefit. I feel like I have accomplished a lot and am successful in many ways, partially as a result of that strong independence. 

Recently though, I have realized how flawed that sense of independence — that coping mechanism perhaps — actually is. Although independence does serve us, we humans actually work quite well and naturally though interdependence, as a collective and in collaboration. Actually, it’s not just us humans who work well this way, it’s our entire ecosystem that works when functioning together. Each part is necessary for its own existence.

When I look back at my life I can see quite clearly how interdependent I actually am despite a sense of independence. In the lab, for example, I had an amazing group lab mates where we all had to help each other with our experiments and our research. Without each other we could not have succeeded, literally requiring each other’s assistance. And in the many team sports that I have played, none of those wonderful games and tournaments and championships could have been won without a team effort, all striving toward a common goal with our unique and interdependent contributions to that success. And when I look at the success of my company and the courses that I run, the success is not my own. It should be attributed at least in great part to the amazing people who invested their time, energy, and money to their work and to those who have stepped up during and after to help me. It is because of them that I have the luxury of claiming success. Becoming pregnant, I have also experienced the many ways in which relying on others is not only welcomed, but often necessary. The small and large ways in which people extend help has been overwhelmingly appreciated, beautiful, and unexpected.

Even my own thinking is not independent. I rely on other people’s opinions, theories, science, ideas, critiques, and knowledge to inform my own. My mind, my brain, my self, they are all constructed through interactions with others. I am, and anything I produce, is a collective effort.

Intellectually and experientially I know that I could not survive on my own. “I can take care of myself” or “I’ll do it all alone” just doesn’t cut it. But asking for help feels uncomfortable. Doesn’t it? In fact, I know for certain that it does based on many conversations I have had, particularly with coaching clients. A good portion of them struggle in asking for help and that struggle wears them down, drains their energy, and keeps them from doing their best work possible or being their best self. 

Asking for help sucks and as a result so many of us shy away from it. I did. But this pregnancy forced me to confront my need for help. I admit, I was not prepared for how much energy it takes to make a baby. Seriously. So I have had ask for help, for the sake of my health and my baby’s. Then, while still working through the discomfort of asking for help, I was challenged with the task of launching a crowdfunding campaign to support the publication of my book, a campaign that rests entirely on the help from others and me having to ask for it, explicitly. 

I didn’t want to ask for help. Not one part of me did. Reluctantly, I submitted myself to the process and to the whim of other people’s generosity and care for my work. On the one hand, it feels like I am submitting myself, my work, and my ideas to other people’s approval. That’s hard on my ego, indeed.

But on the other hand, my ego is humbled and another part of me sees a greater truth. My short stint with accepting and asking for help has taught me how powerful “help” is as a tool that reminds us of our interdependence, our collective existence, and our mutual support. Helping, whether realizing we need it, asking for it, accepting it, or providing it, binds us in something that extends beyond our individual self.

So do I want you to support my book campaign? Of course. I need support. I need help. I need others to contribute. That’s why it’s called crowdfunding. Go here if you want to support the campaign, please: https://pubslush.com/project/6092. 

But that’s not why I write this. I write because it’s been an interesting past 8 months of me learning about help after years of favouring the independence model. I’m sure it will also prove to be an interesting next chapter as I continue to learn about help as I move closer to the birth of two really important creations — my baby and my book — both of which will undoubtedly require much more continued help. And above all, I know I'm not the only one who can stand to learn about asking for and accepting help. So... I provide this reflection and look forward to hearing about them.