Earlier this month, the CBL interns gathered for our annual CBL Intern Retreat: an opportunity to reflect on the CBL community, our roles as Interns, and the CBL program. This year’s retreat was especially exciting because we gathered at the Joyce Contemplative Center (my first time there!).
A big focus of the day was centered on gaining insight into ourselves as well as the interpersonal dynamics within the CBL community. Therefore, to learn more about our personalities, we all took a version of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, a test aimed to help people understand their strengths as well as areas for improvement based on their personalities. After taking the test, we had the opportunity to discuss our personality types as a group. This conversation highlighted the diversity of our group as demonstrated by a balance of different strengths and weaknesses. We discovered a refined sense of connectedness through understanding what makes us unique as well as similar.
Not only did learning about our personalities help us better understand the dynamics within our CBL community, but it also allowed us to recognize how we can better engage with our community partners. In order to lead well and be able to participate in reciprocal relationships with our partners, we need to know ourselves. With a new foundation for how to apply our unique personalities to modes of growth and development, we gained a stronger understanding of how to best excel in interpersonal relationships. We learned where our strengths lie and gained confidence in putting those forward, as well as acknowledging where our weaknesses are and how we can improve upon them.
During the retreat, we also engaged in other fun activities like making Valentine’s Day cards for each other. We had fun bringing out our artistic abilities into fun-loving and motivational cards for each other. Simple moments of appreciation like this bring us closer as a group, and it constantly reminds me how incredibly grateful I am for this community of Interns. As we closed out the day, we took a moment to reflect on what we learned from the experience. One of the prominent themes of the day was being present in the moment. We read “Invitation” by Mary Oliver who asks us to “linger” for a little while to listen to the “goldfinches”. Taking moments to stop and focus on our surroundings allows us to hold active awareness. It is with this active awareness that we can better recognize areas for growth within ourselves and our communities.
