MORE ABOUT JOANNE

MEANING SHAPES WORK

I have learned along the way of life that some experiences become markers, lines in the sand. They create the sense of “before and after.” So it was with my experience living and working overseas more than twenty years ago. It was there that I was the stranger to whom radical hospitality was extended, the sick to whom care was provided. It was there that the wrong mosquito bit me and I contracted Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever.

The symptoms appeared in the middle of a Friday night in December when I was staying on a little island. A friend and I had traveled via a wooden fishing boat, piloted by a young man with whom we could barely communicate due to the differences in our languages. I was grateful to be traveling with a friend. Before the next Friday arrived, I would experience the most profound loss of control I have ever known and find myself beginning a years' long journey to the meaning of the experience. Over the years, the weaving of this story into the larger fabric of my personal and professional life shaped the purpose with which I worked and led in healthcare. Today, this story is one of many which inform my awareness that life is precious, relationships are key, and work which holds deep meaning for us is often the most satisfying.

​

We each have stories which add power and insight to the credentials we hold. We also have stories which describe how those credentials come alive.

Come share your story!