"I CAN SEE A RAINBOW"

By Lisa Dieterle

I gave the students their assignment, which was to draw their first good experience in life. A good experience, according to Bernard Haldane, is one when you did something that you enjoyed, you did it well, and you are proud of it. The key is that you had to do or contribute something to make that experience happen. You could not regard watching a favorite movie, for instance, as a good experience. If you made or produced that movie, or contributed something that made the experience happen, then it would qualify. I handed out paper and crayons and told everyone to begin.

Chris was late. As the others displayed their simple one- or two-colored drawings, he strolled in, and I repeated the lesson. Of course, Chris was the last to share. When he did, I caught my breath. His picture was full of color, showing bluebirds in the sky, a vibrant palm tree, and a rainbow that stretched across the page. He was in the picture looking up at the sky. The title across the top of the page read, "I can see a rainbow." Keeping to the criteria for a good experience, I asked, "What did you DO to make that happen?" He said simply, "I saw it."

I thought about the answer he gave. If somehow he was actively involved in creating the opportunity to see the rainbow, when he could not see one before, he in essence was removing the blocks or barriers which had prevented him from seeing that rainbow.

Chris, an African American in his early thirties, is a bright guy. He was educated at a well known college in Tennessee. He delivered his answer with a warm look of understanding and humor. His message about seeing the rainbow was about growing in his self awareness, about taking the time to self reflect, about gaining wisdom from the choices he had made in life, and his freedom, now, to make different choices.

Chris was one of the 250 single adult male residents of Chicago Christian Industrial League (CCIL), a transitional living facility which houses homeless substance abusers. Residents can live there for up to eighteen months while they are encouraged to make different choices and are supported through difficult transitions. Dependable Strengths is one of the classes offered through CCIL recovery and back-to-work programs that equip residents with new tools for independent living.

Having been affiliated with CCIL for nine years now, and teaching Dependable Strengths for the last six of those years, I have found a doorway into the universal human experience. No matter how different we may appear on the outside, no matter how vast the differences are in our life histories, we share universal life lessons-and a universal hope for the future.

It doesn't matter what we look like or where we come from, whether we dress in business suits or live on the streets, we still can understand what it is to feel inadequate and rejected-or satisfied and grateful. Most of us have struggled with issues relating to self-image and self-awareness, though many imagine themselves to be alone in the struggle.

It is possible to see beyond our differences, to look for our similarities. Our obvious differences can make our similarities all the more pronounced. We can realize we have choices in how we look at ourselves and others. No matter how we were raised, or what our experiences have been, we can choose how to act and how to respond to others. Whether a choice is conscious or unconscious, we are responsible for it, and we have the capacity to grow in the consciousness of our responsibility.

How do you want to treat yourself and others today? What meaning and value will you place on human relating and relationships? What is keeping you from seeing the rainbow? What are you doing to identify and remove the barriers?

These are the questions I ask my students, job seekers who may be homeless, who may be ex-felons, substance abusers, drug dealers, who may be college-educated. As they consider their next steps, the choices they will make about jobs, homes, and relationships, I ask my students to begin to explore, and to reflect on, who they are. Dependable Strengths provides a foundation for that exploration and reflection. It allows people to unearth memories and strengths that show the resilience of the human spirit and the gifts each person has to offer.

Lisa Dieterle, LCPC, CADC, is a CDS certified Local Instructor and the Manager of Workforce Development at Chicago Christian Industrial League (Chicago, Illinois), where DSAP has been taught since 2000. She also has a private practice.

For more information on DSAP in community settings, visit www.mldieterle.com or www.ccilworks.org.