It’s about the Journey: Reflecting on 15 Years of our Global Experience Community

by Jason A. Wolf, Ph.D., CPXP

Fifteen years is a long time to do anything. It represents something more than persistence. I believe it reaches beyond it. To travel a road for 15 years, or more so to decide the need to create new paths while on that journey, takes more. It takes purpose, it takes focus, it takes resilience, and a little relentlessness. It takes hope, it takes faith, it takes support, and yes one cannot do it alone.

That is what we, as The Beryl Institute community, have been doing together for 15 years (as of this weekend). While the number is amazing, what it reflects is a bigger story, and I think it reflects all that is right and good about our global experience movement. That story is about the journey and the people we have been privileged to travel with. That story is about the challenges we have faced together, and the opportunities we have created. That story is about the unwavering intention so many have brought to this work. That story of the 15 years of what we have achieved together at The Beryl Institute. That story is all of ours!

Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “It’s the not the destination, It’s the journey.” While to some they may see this as the mantra of the wanderer, I would suggest it is the call to action for the innovator, the visionary, for those in pursuit of excellence. I have long shared that experience excellence is NOT a state we achieve, but the constant awareness that the person we encounter next deserves just as much as those we saw before. In experience there is not a “there” to which we arrive, but a consistency in action that ensures we care for all – our peers, our patients, and our communities – in ways that show we are committed to them, as human beings caring for human beings.

In experience there is not a “there” to which we arrive, but a consistency in action that ensures we care for all – our peers, our patients, and our communities – in ways that show we are committed to them, as human beings caring for human beings.

Our 15 years as a community is not measured by achieved status, but around the very fact that it has and will never be about the Institute (as an entity) at all. It is about a tapestry of individuals and ideas, of organizations and purposes, that continuously come together to push the edges of what is possible in the interest of others. And while our community, and the movement we have created together, focuses on healthcare, I would offer we have created ripples of compassion and respect that permeate society well beyond (and in much needed ways.)

While the item most associated with a fifteenth anniversary is crystal, symbolizing a clear, strong and long-lasting effort, I’d like to suggest a somewhat different perspective in bringing up another of Emerson’s quotes, “Do not follow where the path may lead.” What I love about crystal is not only its strength, but the reverberating and magical sounds it can make, the fractals of light it can cast. The things you may not expect to see or hear, but marvel at its beauty. If I may say, that is what I have found in this community; reverberations of energy and purpose that have carried the experience message to all parts of the globe, fractals of light that have shined light in the darkest places. Song and light, hope and possibility. These are not found in following the path already carved, but in finding the right steps forward and building that path WITH others.

That is what I have found in this community; reverberations of energy and purpose that have carried the experience message to all parts of the globe, fractals of light that have shined light in the darkest places.

And perhaps that is my greatest reflection. Yes, I can list all the amazing things this community has done together. Connecting over 70,000 people globally in over 80 countries. Delivering content and resources in multiple languages across continents through the voices and experience of our members. Creating a safe place for conversation, to be vulnerable and to recharge so that people can go back to their organizations and lead with strength.  Creating a foundation that stands strong on the value of this work, the importance of the voices of patients and care partners in all we do, and the commitment to access and inclusion essential to a truly equitable and human-centered healthcare system. But what does that all come down to…it comes down to you!

You chose to read this because this movement matters to you. You most likely have contributed to, participated in, or learned from something this community has created together. We, in the rich diversity of perspectives that is our global community, have made the journey all it could and should be. And I know we are committed to all it will continue to be for years to come. So, to each of you, to Institute team and community members past and current, and to those we hope will join us on the journey in the days ahead, my final reflection is gratitude. The concept of Ubuntu, the idea that “I am because you are, and since we are therefore, I am,” may best capture who we are and from where our gratitude flourishes.

The Beryl Institute over 15 years has never been about a product or service, one model or way of doing, but rather it has been (and I’ll say now it will never waver from) about a way of being for each other, for our member organizations, and for the world. As individual champions of experience we are not alone in this world, and in coming together we ensure the experience movement will thrive. That makes this moment, this milestone on our journey so incredibly meaningful. It is ours to share and share I hope you will.

The Beryl Institute over 15 years has never been about a product or service, one model or way of doing, but rather it has been (and I’ll say now it will never waver from) about a way of being for each other, for our member organizations, and for the world.

I invite you to share what your journey with the Institute has meant for you, what story does it bring to mind, what impact has it had, what do you hope it can do for others? I’d love to see your reflections in the comments below or in whatever way you wish to share. For it is in our power of expression, of sharing, that we create the catalyst for the future. A future that starts now, grounded in 15 years of what we have created together. For that I am forever grateful.