“I can’t do that,” she protested. “They’ll think I’m conceited.”
“Just tell them you are doing an assignment. You are being an investigative journalist and you
have to know what they honestly think. You can’t let them get away with just giving you just one
single answer, either. You need to find out allthe things they like about Roxie and what brought
them to this conclusion.
“Like an investigative journalist or scientist, you will need to gather your data. Play back what
you have recorded in the quiet of your own bedroom. Take some time to listen to what your inter-
viewees have said. What do they like about you? Were they things you were expecting them to say?
What comments did you like the best?
“Write down the most important things they like about you. It may be helpful to make a list of
the top ten. When you have the list, stick it on your dressing table mirror or the wardrobe door so
that every morning when you get up and every night before you go to bed you can remind yourself
of the things you most like about you.”
I wonder, if he had asked you to do something similar, what you think those important people
in your life might have said about you? If you were to write out a list, like Roxie did, what would be
included?
My friend can be sort of tough in what he asks of people at times, too. “One more thing,” he
said to Roxie. “There is a condition. If people are helping you with your experiment, it’s only fair
that you give a little back. At the end of each interview you are to give a compliment back to the per-
son you have just interviewed. Tell them something you really like about them.”
80 Healing Stories, Teaching Stories
EXERCISE 5.1
What stories of self-caring have you observed in children, be they your own children, your
clients, or the neighborhood kids? How would those observations fit the therapeutic goal or
goals of a child you are working with at the moment? As you jot the ideas down in your note-
book, keep in mind the outcome of the story and the way your observations may help a child
reach that outcome.