Enabling Good Lives – Lessons from Sculpting Posted by Posted by Mark Benjamin on 7 July 2014 Posted on: 7 July 2014
Over the last three years I have been immersed in what is now known as the Enabling Good Lives (EGL) approach.
How a “good life” is defined varies from person to person. For me, part of building a “good life” is making the time to work with stone. When thinking about EGL, I have sometimes drawn on lessons I am learning in other aspects of my life. Below, I have attempted to describe some personal opinions, on EGL, in relation to sculpting.
A sculpting process and EGL (from the perspective of a sculpting amateur!)
Firstly, when sculpting - I have found it really helpful to get to know what I am working with before I do anything. The first stage, for me, is paying close attention to the shape, consistency, colour and flaws within the stone I am thinking of changing.
EGL thought - too much resource can be wasted with people who don’t know the sector and who attempt to shape it! An intimate understanding of the sector is a useful start. Who knows the sector best? – disabled people and families. Who must lead EGL or any sector change? - disabled people and families.
Ensuring disabled people and families are key leaders in EGL is not just about a philosophical belief this is a good idea; it is the only practical way to achieve something worthwhile. EGL seeks to shift the “say so” so that both “Authority” and authority is with disabled persons and families.
Secondly, when considering working with stone, I spend time imagining (seeing) what it can become. This involves looking into and beyond what is there and visualising ‘what could be’.
EGL thought – rather than attempt to “fix” or “add on to” the existing way of doing things, EGL is about imagining what can be and working towards this. Rather than spend countless hours describing what isn’t working, EGL – based on two decades (or more) of disabled people and families expressing what might work better for them – is seeing what is possible.
Thirdly, when sculpting, I have to think about the tools I have access to.
EGL thought – what are the “tools” we have? There are significant and powerful “tools” at our disposal. I include the UN Convention as a “tool” i.e. it enables us to do things (it is no good if it is left on a shelf). Networks of disabled people, families, innovative providers and enabling officials all have access to ‘tools’ that will assist in positive change. EGL is creating the space for these tools to be used in a creative way – with a common idea of what we are all shaping.
Next, when working on stone, I start chipping away - with the end vision in mind
EGL thought – it takes time, perseverance and determination. Seemingly small “chips”, when co-ordinated, are all contributing to the whole process. Ideally, each small step is thoughtful and taking us all closer to the shared destination. EGL involves many partners all choosing to work together, share “tools” and actively work together.
For me, the next step in working with stone is altering as I go. Sometimes things take twists and turns I did not expect – a crack, a beautiful seam of colour that was previously hidden. Sometimes, things are best left alone. Sometimes, you need to work around vulnerability in the stone – sometimes a stunning feature just jumps out. As the sculpture evolves it makes sense to pay attention to what is revealed.
EGL thought – it is critical to be flexible and adjust person by person, family by family and community by community. In the EGL approach, there is the necessity of both keeping an eye on the overall objective and adapting things as we go. Moving to an EGL approach is about recognising and honouring existing strengths, varying strategies when we have new information and developing new ways of thinking and behaving.
Lastly, in my sculpting attempts, I need to be disciplined so I finish things with the same degree of thought and attention that I started them with (a hard lesson for me)
EGL thought – the change process needs to be done well. The EGL approach impacts on peoples lives!
Mark Benjamin was involved with the initial EGL Report, is on the EGL National Leadership Group and has involvement with the Christchurch and Waikato EGL ‘demonstrations’.