Reflections with Bridgette
There’s something about Bridgette, I think to myself as I talk to her for the blog. I can’t quite put my finger on it. She doesn’t necessarily remind me of anyone, but there is a quality that feels familiar.
Do you know what I mean?
If you are reading this blog, it is highly likely that you have interacted with Bridgette already. She is, after all, the reason things run smoothly at Rock 101. As the Community Outreach Coordinator, she is the mastermind behind the details: scheduling, operations, and software, to name a few. Listening to her job description, I feel myself cringe as it is not something that I would enjoy. Bridgette, on the other hand, lights up. She thrives on taking something seemingly chaotic and building systems that create beautiful order.
That is simply Bridgette in one dimension. As we kept talking, I started to understand Bridgette as a whole.
Bridgette has lived in Albuquerque her entire life and has never felt the urge to leave. She loves the seasons and admits that for her Albuquerque is what feels like home. She loves to draw, mostly flowers, any flowers. An enthusiast of crafting, she has an Etsy shop, Bridgy’s Boutique, where she sells macrame items.
A dog lover, Bridgette has lived with up to three dogs at the same time: Bella (a beloved older chihuahua), Mila (a young, energetic husky lab), and Walter, the mystery dog Bridgette found as a stray. As I sit and ponder, with slight anxiety, the logistics necessary to house three very different dogs, I look at Bridgette’s face and see ease and love. Again, I notice that details simply are not something that gets in her way.
Is this the elusive quality I can’t pin down, I wonder to myself? Am I feeling admiration for Bridgette’s ability to make order out of complications? To feel at ease in a mess? No, I realize that’s not quite it. (Though, for the record, I am jealous of this trait.)
Perhaps it is the way that Bridgette talks about music that is drawing me in. She has played violin since fourth grade, taking formal lessons for about six years. She loved music lessons and continues to enjoy the violin, so much so that she purchased one this year with the intent to start playing again. Bridgette talks about music in terms of mood. She loves how music has the power to shift emotions and mindsets. She finds it fascinating that music is linked to memories and that when she hears certain songs, she is shifted back in time to when an event first happened. And isn’t it powerful, she says, that music allows you to vibe with people? People who are very different and don’t know each other can be brought together through music.
Talking about music quickly and naturally segways into talking about Rock 101. Bridgette loves her job but it is the community that has her awe struck. As Community Outreach Coordinator, Bridgette deals with lessons, scheduling, and software details all day long; however, when she talks about Rock 101, none of this comes up. What she observes are not the details but the outcomes. She sees heartfelt connections, strong community, and meaningful work. She remembers a time when she witnessed an emotional moment between a father and son and, though she was simply a bystander looking on, she shed tears of her own. This place means so much to people, she says, and the kindness is unbelievable.
Hearing Bridgette talk about Rock 101 is inspiring. Listening to her talk, however, sparks a memory of my own. It is a memory from several years ago when a very wise woman was trying to teach me a lesson. Life, she told me, is a mirror to the self. What we see in others - both positive and negative - is simply a reflection of what can be found within ourselves. Not only that, but we are also a mirror to life. We reflect outwards those qualities that we choose to absorb.
At this point, I have asked countless instructors and students the following question. I have heard a variety of responses but I have never paid attention so intently before. I am keenly aware that the answer Bridgette provides will be not only a description of Rock 101 but will also be a reflection of herself. Bridgette, I ask, how would you characterize Rock 101 in three words?
The answer does not come quickly. I can see her sorting through and organizing the tangle of thoughts and emotions before she responds. Eventually, the words are there:
Beautiful
Strong
Wholehearted
With those three words, we can now understand the core of Bridgette. Bridgette is a seeker of beauty. She sees potential outcomes and has the strength to work with the details in order to achieve them. By immersing in the nitty gritty, she creates space for beauty to flourish. Being wholehearted is characterized by containing courage, compassion, and commitment. She is attracted to Rock 101 because of this, but she is also a source of these qualities, enhancing what is already present.
To see positive outcomes is to believe in the potential of those around you. And right there. That is the elusive quality I have been feeling. Bridgette reflects our highest potential and makes us feel not only that it is a possibility but that, rather, it is already true.
Bridgette makes us recognize the best versions of ourselves. What would we do without her? Sure, we’d probably get by, but it most definitely would not feel so good.
- Danielle Parker