Paper Boats
Reflection by Aditi Subramaniam
Aditi Subramaniam is a Licensed Psychotherapist specializing in Infant, Parent and Early Childhood mental health with more than fifteen years of experience, in India and Boston. She holds an M.A in Expressive Therapies from Lesley University and an M.A in Clinical Psychology from University of Delhi, India. The principles and practices of social justice and equity are embedded in her lens and work. She is an NBO trainer at the Brazelton Institute.
The words of the poem for me parallel so many of the experiences of the wishes and dreams that our families and parents with their newborns hold, while simultaneously also navigating a vulnerable feeling of the 'unknown'. In joining a family in the NBO, the stories that unfold as we witness parents sharing their baby's names or in the behaviors from the baby that unfold so many deeper stories that give us, as practitioners, a window into the family's meaning making in relationship is such a gift!
As a practitioner for me, what resonates with this poem are identity and hope!
It reminds me of culturally humble ways of 'holding', 'being with' and joining the family as we together 'wait, watch and wonder' about their baby's behavior and capacities. And reflecting inward as a practitioner, how important it is for me to consistently engage in self reflection on social identities and how that plays out in our work.. in service of holding hope and relationship for our families and their children.
Paper Boats
By Rabindranath Tagore
Day by day I float my paper boats one by one down the running stream.
In big black letters I write my name on them and the name of the village where I live.
I hope that someone in some strange land will find them and know who I am.
I load my little boats with shiuli flowers from our garden, and hope that these blooms of the dawn will be carried safely to land in the night.
I launch my paper boats and look up into the sky and see the little clouds setting their white bulging sails.
I know not what playmate of mine in the sky sends them down the air to race with my boats!
When night comes I bury my face in my arms and dream that my paper boats float on and on under the midnight stars.
The fairies of sleep are sailing in them, and the lading is their baskets full of dreams.