Haukea-Willow: Personal and Emotional Wellness.
Aly Drolet
((Starbase 118, Command Center, Deck 7, Commanding Officer’s Ready Room))
Yet, to provide a generalized statement describing Risian familial principles, arguably devalued the fluidity of jamaharon - a practice characterized by a horga'hn statue signifying an announcement and participation in pleasurable sexual practices.
Fairhug: So you consider even those not related by blood to still be a part of your family?
Platonic - (of love or friendship) intimate and affectionate but not sexual - interwove the foundation of Willow tree roots, providing structure, stability, and support. When collective intentions faithfully migrated into passing social spheres, additional branches evolved, providing a resting lurch for genetically independent individuals.
Willow: I have three siblings though only the sisters are related to each other. My brother holds no relation to them. And they likewise hold no relation to me. Not scientifically anyway. Yet, that doesn’t matter. They have been my siblings, each with a unique and complete family of their own.
Fairhug: That's fascinating and a great way of looking at things.
While Gogigobo drank his tea, warm liquid flowing down his throat, Haukea simply allowed her hands to be warmed by her mug.
Willow: Same for my paternal cousin’s boyfriend’s siblings, whom I consider cousins respectively.
Despite the unconventional nature of familiar connections, Haukea personally preferred such a perception to a universally acknowledged concept.
Fairhug: And again, without wanting to be too general, is this a usual way of thinking for a lot of Risians?
Willow: ::Considering:: My perception on the matter is skewed due to my own family dynamics. However, I don’t believe so. ::The statement provided room for false perception::
Fairhug: Well, I think it's fantastic. Where I come from, we are very family-orientated. We have big families and those families make even bigger communities who all come together often for celebrations of various types. I find comfort in that. Would you say you have a similar experience?
Willow: Yes, I agree, even though your own experience can’t personally match what I am struggling to define by a single word. I view many individuals as family, if not, in a platonic bond, due to an intense and intimate acknowledgement towards each other.
Fairhug: What you're describing sounds a lot like how I feel about our crew.
Gogigobo shifted, appearing to be finding a more comfortable position upon the couch, turning his mug absentmindedly. Haukea respectfully watched, contemplating. Through honest acknowledgement, on several occasions, by virtue of internal monologue, there was a deep consideration of several Starbase 118 crew as family. Though none were actively defined, or labeled by the terms siblings, cousin etc.
Willow: I do, being honest, have to admit I find myself replacing words such as colleague or crew with family on a number of occasions. But why do you, personally, consider us that way?
Fairhug: Sure. None of you are related to me by blood, but we have all bonded over time and through shared experiences. I consider you all to be my extended family and this base to be my home away from home. I think it would be harder to *not* think that way, wouldn't you agree?
Willow: Wholeheartedly.
Fairhug: So, do you think that makes it harder for you to control your emotions? If so, how can we try to address that?
The preceding incidence that defined her current range of undefinable emotional turmoil, sat on the precipice, in part, of an illusive construction of familiar bondage. The Starbase 118 crew developed connection due, partially, because of a sequence of events representing pivotal elements in individually intertwined lives.
Willow: While I acknowledge I do often view the crew as family, it is a separate emotional state from that of my Risian tree. The crew have planted, perhaps a completely separate tree for me to grow attached to.
While Gogigobo appeared to comprehend her perspective, since she herself managed to continue forward with a feeble grasp, still having difficulties with providing precise descriptive and metaphoric language, Haukea projected that even Gogigobo’s knowledge was incomplete.
Yet, the more the Risian considered the concept of platonic familiar relationships towards individuals typically considered merely colleagues, she recalled her readings and research regarding the publicly available mission reports from the Starship Voyager, while lost, thought dead, in the Delta quadrant.
Here Haukea had, though not previously able to provide a connection towards and in regards to her own personal experiences in Starfleet, slowly became aware, through current conversation, to both the Voyager’s crew and Starbase 118 crew's familiar link, due to events regarded as traumatic.
Fairhug: I get that. I feel the same way. It's family, but a different type of family. But the question is - how can you emotionally manage these feelings on a professional level?
Willow: How I emotionally manage it? That, I’m unafraid to say, I don’t know.
While she had previously acknowledged awareness of the challenging concept of negative emotional intelligence for members of the Risian species, that was to say they were not without coping strategies. However, strategies provided targeted the predominantly positive emotions more commonly recognized, over emphasized and experienced.
As a child these strategies allowed for regulation after extreme enthusiasm. Regardless, they did little to curb her excessive speech patterns of high words per minute, slurred speech or breathlessness as a result. Still, to this particular day, when in a civilian situation, over excitement tended to provide room for such a habit.
Yet, Gogigobo was asking for strategies regarding the exact opposite nature.
Fairhug: ::Sighing:: Perhaps we have to think of some kind of…strategy.
Willow: I’ve never developed emotional coping strategies before.
Again, it was the coping strategies, along with regulation techniques developed for emotions or mental health disorders like anxiety, anger, fear, sadness, that Haukea had never previously considered. Likely, too, she may perhaps have once heard in passing, yet never formally practiced. The idea of identifying an initial starting place was daunting.
Fairhug: I think it's important to acknowledge that this isn't something that's going to disappear overnight.
Willow: I believe myself to be intelligent enough that I didn’t expect to resolve quickly. In fact the emotional intensity had been increasing for some time.
Fairhug: Also, it's not going to be a one size fits all solution. What works for me, or Maddie, or anyone else for that matter, isn't necessarily going to work for you. ::Gogi paused, likely allowing space for Haukea to respond:: So, I think we'll have to try multiple approaches and see which one suits you the best and gets the best results.
It was easy to admit that her academy courses had neglected to provide for study in the area of personal wellness for a Starfleet officer; How to provide for the individual when faced with the self sacrificing role of a Starfleet officer, usually containing numerous physically and mentally traumatic experiences. If they had, Haukea certainly had been unaware of such a course.
Nevertheless, from an academy classmate long forgotten, she vaguely recalled at least 8 aged concepts regarding the topic: Spiritual, Physical, Emotional, Financial, Social, Environmental, Intellectual, Occupational and Spiritual. What meaning they had, she was unable to articulate.
Willow: I am certainly willing to give it an attempt.
Fairhug: So, then, let's make a shortlist of potential approaches. What do you think?
Willow: I do find I am unsure where to start. I am struggling with generating strategies with which to use. Perhaps if you shared what works best for yourself, I could get a sense of it.
Fairhug: Response
Willow: I know they may not work for me, but I’m willing to try. You cannot know until you do, right?
Fairhug: Response
Willow: I do think, as I say it, that my current coping strategy is to merely ignore the issue. I don’t know how to acknowledge or handle the experience, being Risian, that I simply didn’t.
Fairhug: Response
Lt. Haukea-Willow
Chief of Security - Crisis Response
Starbase 118 Ops
M239512BG0
Ad Astra Per Aspera/To The Stars With Difficulty - Una Chin-Riley
