ABSTRACT
An edgy relationship between me, a young social services worker, and Sam, a regular patron in a Methodist affiliated Social Service Center in an urban African American neighborhood is at the foundation of this chapter. Trying as a young white woman to find my place in this community, I received helpful advice from my colleagues who knew about his complex reputation for instability. My service encounters with Sam left me confused and feeling inadequate. I needed to change our “energy map,” the patterns by which we did and did not meet each other’s needs and interests. This chapter explains how to draw an energy map, to chart energy flows, positive and negative, for people and places in any service setting or organization. A second exercise, drawing a family tree of service, helps identify assumptions we grow up with in service and reveals the way these histories impact our current choices in giving back with others. A final contemplative breath-based practice focused on the heart helps us contemplate these new insights.
