May 1 - A Fascinating Coincidence in These Foolish Things

I was invited to another volunteer appreciation event, this time it was for volunteering for the city’s marathon in February. Remember that? It was a cold, winter morning and it was an absolute blast.

And this party was soooooo much better than the last volunteer party I attended a couple of weeks ago where I had to wait in an hour-long line with hundreds of other volunteers to get a little cauliflower taco. Granted, it was a good taco, and the conversation was fun while I waited, but it was a little anticlimactic in the end.

Only a couple dozen people showed up today. I imagine that it was because it started so early (4pm on a Wednesday? …weird, right?), and it looked like the sky was going to open up and storm any second.

It was held in a super cool venue - an airplane hangar that’s been converted into a brewery and beer garden. The staff was super friendly and they brought out full platters of food to everyone - mainly bar food and pizza, but they had a great veggie pizza and a bunch of hummus and veg trays. And an open bar where this sweet bartender made me a couple of delicious mocktails.

I sat with a super fun couple who’d volunteered at the runner packet stations and then another guy who was at a different aid/water station than I was on Marathon Day. We all got to talking, and before long I discovered that this other guy was a forensic psychologist - which is not only fascinating to me, but I had a feeling he might know my psychiatrist friend, Bob who lives in this city as well (knowing that he works on similar type forensic cases). Sure enough, he does!

So we all got to talking a little more about this city and other volunteer events and the pandemic and helping with the environment and unhoused people…kind of all over the place conversation, but it was essentially about helping people and how much that it helps us in turn when we do these kinds of things.

And out of the not-so-blue (because I think it relates in many different ways), this guy mentions Post Traumatic Growth (PTG)!!! and how this terminology as well as the focus in the psychiatric world has been more on the positive outcomes of traumatic experiences in recent years (rather than the focus being on PTSD and other difficult outcomes).

As you might imagine, my mind was a little bit blown.

I mean, I realize I’m really playing this up right now - I’m sure in psychology circles this would not be such a trippy coincidence, but the first time I ever even heard this term was literally two weeks ago, and now it’s nearly ALL I CAN THINK ABOUT and this guy I’d never met before starts in on a completely unprompted dissertation about it and…

Whoa.
GS