Enigma

   A N G I E   L E W I S

I am a relatively newly qualified social worker, having qualified in 2013. Prior to this I had worked in the social care sector for around ten years. My experience includes working with older people, children and families, young homeless people in supported accommodation, forensic learning disability, and now adult learning disabilities in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. I enjoy problem solving, embrace change, and am a creative and dynamic thinker with an affinity for thinking outside the box. I am naturally good at communicating and love meeting new people from different walks of life. I never see problems, only challenges. And in my spare time I can be found relaxing with friends, enjoying a pint or partaking in some form of adrenaline-junkie activity.

I chose The Enigma because …

Well, it is not an object as such, but The Enigma by Escher kind of defines social work for me: not everything is as it seems and depending on perspective, we may all see things differently. The work we do, and in particular assessments, are so subjective. For me The Enigma highlights the multifaceted dynamics in any one situation or person’s life. When and from where we walk into this picture will determine what we see, where we see it, what we perceive to be reality. However, this entrance and timing and observation will always be determined by which of the people and in which position they are on the stairs. The direction is not always so easily determined and this fits well with my liking for thinking creatively and outside of the box. We all too often find ourselves as practitioners entering the lives of people in times of crisis and chaos, stumbling down the stairs. But thankfully by the time we have done all we can, people once again are climbing back upwards. Life for any of us is never plain sailing, but as long as we all do our best to find our own way and help those we can, then balance will always be restored.

I had originally chosen Pandora’s Box; however, this did not give the opportunity for any positives to be highlighted, simply representing all the evil in the world. But if you look hard enough, there are always positives to be found! Every cloud has a silver lining and all that …