Covid-19 entered our world and our profession like a tsunami...
and everything we thought we knew about our profession's security was swept away.
Stability... GONE
Financial Security... GONE
Personally I felt like a deer caught in headlights for the first 2 weeks my office was closed. I woke up in worry, walked around my house in confusion, and went to sleep in distress.
I was in shock. How could a profession that I had been in since I was 18 years old, be... CLOSED?
I have a personality with needs of dependability, stability, security, foundation.... and the foundation had been pulled out from under me like a table cloth ripped from a beautiful table setting of silver china.
Five weeks later, after my unemployment checks starting come in I was able to breathe. Not because it replaced my full income, obviously unemployment can't do that, but because it lessened some of the worry. My office was closed for a total of 11 weeks. I decided that even though I didn't know what I was doing on a daily basis, I was going to enjoy the time the Universe was giving us humans to learn how to rest, be still, and to go within and listen to what my soul was wanting to tell me.
In the time frame of being furloughed, I realized all the things
I wanted to do outside of my career as a dental hygienist,
could actually be incorporated WITHIN it!
I spent years feeling dissatisfied as a hygienist because of the routine.
I was stuck in the rut of routine.
Covid-19 gave me the opportunity to get out of the rut!
All my other business adventures began to gel into dental hygiene within my mind. The activities I enjoyed outside of dental hygiene could be incorporated within my work! I was already doing this to an extent. As a Certified Health Coach, I would speak with patients about how diet affects our teeth and periodontal health. Its not just about sugar as we were taught to believe. Its what sugar does in the body, causing inflammation and feeding of the bacteria, that then cause oral health problems.
However, I was lacking to see how I could extend my knowledge as a Mind Body Wellness Practitioner to my colleagues until Covid-19 presented itself.
Do you have passions outside of dental hygiene?
What if you could find ways to incorporate those passions INTO your career? Now yes, some make more sense than others. Clearly being a health coach is an easy passion to extend into the field of dental hygiene, whereas cooking is not. But as a Yoga Instructor, I hadn't considered how much yoga helped me physically as a Dental Hygienist, and it is something I can share within my profession and share with other hygienists. As a Certified Transformational Life Coach I have been coaching women for a few years now, but I realized Dental Hygienists need coaching too!
Covid-19 is giving us the opportunity to look outside the box!
We can not see past our own point of reference UNLESS we choose to. IT IS POSSIBLE to reach beyond where you currently are now. IT IS POSSIBLE to see opportunities in places that once seemed unimaginable.
Covid-19 is about flowing with change.
Our profession as dental hygienists needs to change, most of us know this.
Lots of us want autonomy.
All of us want to be valued, heard, and appreciated!
We are ALL unique and do things differently.
Think about how many patients have told you that "Suzie cleaned their teeth differently" and you're like "well this is how I do it"... we are all unique and have different ways of doing things along with different views and mindsets.
So I will leave you with these questions..
- What can you bring to the table that's outside the box of dental hygiene?
- What silver lining opportunity has Covid-19 given you, and are you ready to take it?