A Farewell Note from the Desk of an Intern at SiG

Perhaps we all lose our sense of reality to the precise degree to which we are engrossed in our own work, and perhaps that is why we see in the increasing complexity of our mental constructs a means for greater understanding, even while intuitively we know that we shall never be able to fathom the imponderables that govern our course through life.
-W. G. Sebald, The Rings of Saturn

Yes, my sense of reality has diminished (with startling exactitude) in relation to my time spent working with Social Innovation Generation. But I am not without blame.

I have immersed myself in literally hundreds of resources on social innovation over the past three months. I swam the depths of the Internet collecting videos, slideshows, and articles. Like a traveller captures his memories with scribbles and dates on the back of a photograph, I, too, returned to my fellow travellers with familiar stories. I willing endangered the delicate constitution of my intuition by attending the last module of The Graduate Diploma in Social Innovation. And I admit, I even enjoyed it. Yes, by taking an intern position at SiG I willingly set forth to change my perspective, and to capture in the complexity of theory a more perfect image of the world.

Have I misplaced my sense of reality under piles of notes, or, perhaps, scattered it amongst the post-its that often line my wall? I wouldn’t be surprised if it abandoned me when I began to re-create process maps from the world’s leading design thinkers…

No, I’m afraid that doesn’t get at the heart of the mater. If at SiG “we all lose our sense of reality to the precise degree to which we are engrossed in our own work” it is because I have had the pleasure to work with passionate and generous people. I cannot thank them enough for the time we shared this summer and the happiness they have brought me.

The imponderable draft that opened this door is quietly closing it behind me. As I tie up loose ends and begin to clear the clutter from my desk, I am reminded that my course through life is guided by the unfathomable compassion of others.

Sebastian Ennis
August 2, 2012