This candle makes me smile not just because it’s a pineapple!
It was gifted to me a long time ago by a little client and is a reminder of so much.
They spent the first couple of months under the therapy table not wanting to come out. Gradually session by session we found our way together and they trusted the space to express and explore in their own way, not be boxed in by others expectations or fit in this box philosophies.
I know that we had done great work together when after a long break they said to their Mum ‘you know that lady who helped me and we did art, I need to see her again’ The knowing of their own needs was exactly what we worked on – not being reliant on me but that self-awareness and knowing their own way, setting them up for the future.
They initiated and chose this candle themselves. I will never forget their excitement (and my full heart) when they gave it to me as it was so much more than a gift.
All behaviour is communication, and this scenario demonstrates why holding space, presence and adaptability are so so important. While the focus of my work is a little different now a days, curiosity, different ways to engage and humaning are the absolute foundations for all of the work that I do.
As I follow through with my ambition to use the candles rather than them sitting nicely in the cupboard, who would have thought that a pineapple could be full of so much symbolism.
Not just a pineapple
