It wasn't "support" (shien), it was "SHIEN." A story about how I deeply resonated with an article by Yocchan-sama that I found on note 🌿
Last night.
A certain post caught my eye on Threads.
It was a call to action from Yocchan-sama.
"I will write by quoting your article. You will write by quoting my article. It is a project to create overlap in that way," it said.
I sent a comment as soon as I saw it.
"Let's do it together," I wrote.
And now, I am writing like this.
🤝 The trigger was five seconds
First, I want to be honest and confess. There wasn't a dramatic story between Yocchan-sama and me. Last night, I found the post about the project, and it probably took five seconds. Before I could even think, I had sent a message saying, let's do it together.
That is all.
It is not as if we had a deep relationship to begin with.
It is not as if we had spent a long time building trust.
It was just a single breath.
But I did not hesitate.
Why?
The reason is clear.
🌱 Introducing each other through Adler's "horizontal relationship"
I have been practicing Adlerian psychology for 13 years.
Within it, there is the concept of a horizontal relationship. Neither is above or below the other. We stand side by side as equals. We acknowledge each other's good points just as they are.
This project was exactly that.
Yocchan-sama quotes my article.
I quote Yocchan-sama's article.
There is no hierarchy, and there is no profit or loss.
We are simply standing side by side, introducing each other.
I thought this was a decision that would be a plus for me as well.
And above all,
it is simply fun to get to know the other person.
📮 Actually, I had just been introduced by someone else a little while ago as well.
There is one more thing I want to write down.
Just the other day, Tobira-sama and Marley-sama on note introduced my article.
The things I wrote are being carried by someone else's words,
reaching new people once again.
That feeling made me truly happy.
So this time, when I saw Yocchan-sama's project,
I felt that it was my turn to introduce someone else.
I don't just hold onto what I've received.
I pass it on to the next person, horizontally.
This, too, was a natural flow for me.
📖 And then, I read Yocchan-sama's article.
This is what I most want to write about today.
I read Yocchan-sama's article thoroughly.
The title is "Important Special Needs Education."
Yocchan-sama is someone involved in special needs education.
In that article, there was a passage
that made me nod along repeatedly.
Visible support and invisible SHIEN.
💡 "Support" and "SHIEN" are different.
Yocchan-sama wrote this:
Support is something a teacher gives to a student.
SHIEN is the exchange of doing things for each other,
from teacher to student, and from student to teacher.
The moment I read this,
I felt a deep sense of empathy.
Visible support is teaching materials, methods, and instruction.
It is something given by someone in a higher position to someone in a lower one.
It is clearly visible in form.
On the other hand, invisible SHIEN is
having things done for you, and doing things for others.
It is the mutual exchange of those things.
As a relationship or an atmosphere,
it is something that circulates quietly within.
That is why it is hard to see with the eyes.
🌿 It was the same in my workplace as well.
Reading this, I thought to myself.
At the special nursing home where I work,
Because the exact same thing is happening.
As a functional training instructor,
I am in a position to support the bodies of the people I serve.
In other words, I am on the supporting side.
But is that really the case?
Some time ago, something like this happened.
After I finished a functional training session for one of the people I serve,
that person treated me to a cup of coffee.
To the staff member who came to help with their rehabilitation,
they, in turn, brewed a cup to welcome me.
At that moment, I was providing support.
But at the same time,
I was also definitely being supported by them.
A steaming cup of coffee.
Inside it, that person's dignity and kindness
were all packed in.
That was not visible support.
It was the invisible SHIEN that Yocchan talks about.
🔄 Support is not a one-way street
Yocchan-sama, in the school setting.
I am on the front lines of a special nursing home.
We are in completely different places.
But the scenery we arrived at,
was surprisingly the same.
The side that supports and the side that is supported.
That line is much more ambiguous than you think.
Thinking I am giving, I am actually receiving.
Thinking I am doing something for someone, I am having something done for me.
It is precisely within that invisible exchange,
that a warm overlap between people is born.
Yocchan-sama's article taught me that,
using the word education.
🌏 The place called note is also made of SHIEN.
And, I realized something.
The very project I am doing right now,
is an invisible SHIEN.
I introduce Yocchan-sama.
Yocchan-sama introduces me.
Having something done, doing something for someone.
We exchange that in a horizontal relationship.
Neither is above or below the other.
Even in a relationship that just connected yesterday,
if we exchange having something done and doing something for someone like this,
There, a small overlap is born.
I have walked alongside people several times before.
Sitting next to someone who is huddled up, unread,
I have also searched for words together with them.
This project is also an extension of that.
It is not about unilaterally giving something.
We pass things back and forth to each other.
That is, for me,
the richest part of the place called note.
🍃 In conclusion—invisible exchanges warm the world a little
Yocchan-sama describes their activities
with the phrase, making the world happy through dialogue.
As equals, we exchange words,
and quietly trade doing things for each other.
I call that Adler's horizontal relationship, and
Yocchan calls that SHIEN.
Surely, the roots are the same.
This small project, which started yesterday
from a few exchanges of comments,
is probably one of those invisible exchanges.
I have placed the link to Yocchan-sama's article below.
I really want you to read it.
I'm sure that within you, too,
things you've had done for you, things you've done for others,
those warm moments will come to mind, one after another.
What are some things that you have recently "had done for you" by someone, or "done for someone else"?
Here is the link to Yocchan-sama's article👇👇
Profile 🙋♂️
Occupational Therapist in my 16th year | Working in special nursing homes/unit care | Former Dementia Care Instructor | HSP/ISFJ | Playing tennis since junior high | Father of a 7-year-old daughter | Practicing Adlerian psychology for 13 years | Lost weight from 106kg to 77kg | After experiencing depression and social anxiety, I continue to share field-based insights on how I've come to live without medication.
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#SHIENStudies #SpecialNeedsEducation #AdlerianPsychology #HorizontalRelationships #CommunityFeeling #OccupationalTherapist #HSP #noteProject #Connection
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