Transition, Turbulence, or Turmoil?

Managing change is hard.

No one has an easy time with it. Unfortunately, within the last year, the rate of change has outpaced many people’s ability to pivot. Within the throes of a pandemic, political unrest, fiscal crisis, and the urgent need for interpersonal reconciliation, the continuity of daily living has become a heightened challenge. We are receiving information at a rate that exceeds our ability to understand it. Managing change is hard. But it can be done and done well.

In March, when businesses were closing across the country and human contact was limited, Summit Coffee, a small business in North Carolina, had an idea. They recognized that the only people who were having face to face interactions with other people were “Essential Workers.” Essential Workers, many of whom were nurses, care workers, and customer facing employees of businesses; still needed their morning coffee. So, they decided to shift their trajectory of face-to-face expansion and think of unconventional ways to make it work. Their slogan: “Coffee is Essential.”

What they did continues to inspire me.

Summit made a move from their normal Brick-and-Mortar coffee shop to a more unconventional venue. They moved into a drive through teller booth that had previously been owned by a local bank. They received payments and passed coffee and donuts through a sliding teller drawer, they boosted their online presence, and they gave up their recipes and techniques by hosting classes online so that people could replicate their favorite drinks at home.

Summit Coffee took a challenge, they thought outside of the box, they looked for resources that would enable them to succeed, they took measured risks, and they allowed themselves to be open to their community. Summit Coffee is now one of the fastest growing franchises in the coffee industry. Summit was able to transition from traditional coffee shop into an innovative community.

Transitioning is not easy. We are working with people in transition every day. As a community we are ourselves are in constant transition as we seek to continually improve our services. The act of living is, by nature, a transition. However, our attitude towards transition can lead us to turbulence or turmoil.

When I think of what Summit was able to achieve, I was struck by the similarities of their situation with the students and families served by Mountain Lake Academy. They take a less than ideal situation, they then reach out for help, find resources, draw on support, engage with our community, and make the courageous step to think outside of the box and investigate alternatives. The students and families that are a part of this community take on the challenging work of creating a meaningful experience out of a turbulent time.

In the world of fluid dynamics, turbulence is motion characterized by chaotic changes of pressure and flow velocity. In other words, turbulence is the external force that makes an otherwise smooth journey bumpy.

We have all had plans go awry. At times, even our best ideas plummet at a moment’s notice. Often, we do not see turbulence coming, sometimes we get an abbreviated warning. It is our imperative to make a choice of how we will deal with it. No one expects to break a bone, get in a car accident, crash on their skis, trip up the stairs; but it happens. The question is, "Do we react to turbulence (which often ends in more chaotic movement and tends to create turmoil) or do we formulate a response? "

At MLA we focus on teaching students how to take a responsive approach to turbulent times. We teach them how to step back, look at external influences objectively, and ask questions that lead to productive outcomes. We understand that the strongest flowers are not those that grow in a meadow but the ones that persist in pressing through the cracks in the concrete. This past year our world has seen more turmoil than stability. As inhabitants, we have been bumped around like passengers on an airplane flying through a hurricane only to be disrupted by a tornado. Very chaotic external forces have affected each of us. As citizens, we can either react by diving into the turmoil of divisive ideas, or we can unite under the banner of community.

Community is born in shared struggle. When a group of people acknowledge turbulence and look to each other for solutions we can endure. We can carry each other’s burdens and walk together into a place of healing. The staff and administration of MLA look at our communal experience of turbulence as an opportunity to seek healing and to better find the broken pieces. We see the turbulence that strikes families, whether it be a child who struggles with absence, or the student who does not learn best in a traditional school, or even someone who just needs more structure to be successful than home can provide. We understand the need for healing. We understand the feeling of being at your wit’s end. We are here. Our role is to help families navigate turbulent journeys while blazing new pathways that lead to healing and wellness.

Turbulence is inevitable. Chaos is a part of life. But it does not have to turn into turmoil. When we approach turbulence together, we can be the hand that you hold on the airplane when the ride gets bumpy. We understand that panic is a temptation when times are hard. But together, we can resist this temptation and seek growth. We can create formidable bonds and stand amid the chaos as a community that is grounded in the hope and belief that we will come out stronger than when we went in. We can be the stillness in the storm with, and for, those whom we a charged to care.

We would invite you on this journey of hope and discovery so that as we grow as a community, we can allow ourselves to be transformed by this awesome responsibility to face the turbulent transitions of life together.