Internal Consistency

Today I was had a wide-ranging and interesting conversation with a woman who runs a local emerging non-profit organization.  Though the conversation was organizational development-this and capacity building-that, I realized that my explanations of how I could help the board grow the organization sounded a lot like my conversations with expectant couples and how I can help them be strong advocates and educated consumers of health care.

Internal consistency, in statistics and research tools, is the ability of a tool to measure or demonstrate a value consistently throughout.  It means that if someone answers a question one way in one question, they will answer a later question in a way that supports their previous position.  

I don't advocate for people, I teach them to and support them in advocating for themselves.  I can't take the burden of labor away from a woman but I can support her in finding her own strength to labor as she will.  Similarly, when working with an emerging organization, I don't tell them how to grow and develop their missions and programs, I help them articulate their collective passion and vision.

I realized today, happily, that though my work as a doula, public health professional, and even as a temporarily home-schooling parent, looks fragmented and random, it is actually very internally consistent with who I am, what I enjoy and what I'm good at doing.

What a lovely way to start a day.