Yesterday morning, while I was busy with the email and trying to get some of the kinks out before my visit to the Physical Therapist, re-runs of Grey’s Anatomy were keeping me company.
I’ve watched for ages. I get the surgical jokes. I also marvel at what creator, Shonda Rhimes, has accomplished in terms of cultural awareness and archetypes/stereotypes in a show she only imagined would last one season!
Dr. Miranda Bailey is one of my favorites.
The episode I just saw again reminded me why.
Bailey was acting as Chief of Surgery. As part of freeing herself for new duties, Bailey appointed Dr. Meredith Grey Chief of General Surgery. At some point, the promotion involved signing of contracts and so forth.
One thing led to another and, with two sisters who were also high ranking surgeons, Meredith learned that she was being offered much less in terms of salary that others at her level.
On a even busier than usual day at the hospital, Dr. Richard Weber, the former Chief of Surgery, learned of the terms of Meredith’s contract. The lecture he heaped on Bailey was predictable.
(As a songwriter/musician named Mike Cross would say, there was a lot of moonshinin’ and inbreedin’ at Seattle Grace!)
Bailey’s response was a bit of a surprise.
“Grey needs to rise,” she said. By which she meant that Meredith needed to speak up for what she felt she deserved. For what she had earned. She needed, it was implied, to speak truth to power.
And, having read some of Shonda Rhimes’ written work, it’s a pretty good bet that Bailey wasn’t speaking only about Meredith, but about herself and all of us.
I agree. We do need to rise. Possibly now as much as ever.
That’s not something I was taught. (I’d love to know your experience with this!)
It is something I hope to model for my girls. And for all the people who turn to me for teaching and guidance.
To speak up. To speak truth to power. To speak hope to those who feel lost. And to our own selves when we feel lost. When we need to rise.
With our voices, of course. Also with our votes. And our purchasing power. And, perhaps most powerfully, with our art, of whatever sort it might be.
Our littles need to hear us to know what is possible.
To start, we can make it okay for people who love each other to disagree. To view things differently. To be, each of us, who we are.
It’s not necessarily a fast or easy strategy. The best ones often aren’t.
Here’s another way to rise… https://fierceartwithheart.com/
That’s the link for my new Shopify store. Me, putting my heart “out there”. And, yes, I’d love for my work to find forever homes. But even more than that, I want my girls, two very gifted young women, to see that we can survive the risk it takes to set our work free in the world.
I hope you’ll visit the new store. I’ll be adding things for a while yet. But for this week, there’s a special appreciation gift just for you! The shop elves, bless their hearts, will magically take 10% off your first purchase.
Enjoy! And please let me know if you have questions.
ps… Stay tuned for info on a free webinar, sharing what is quite possibly the most important thing I’ve ever learned!
