Saying It Until It Lands

On persistence, perspective, and finding new ways to be understood

This morning I took my son to the YMCA. I go to an exercise class while he goes to childcare, and afterward I usually let him swim. Today, being Good Friday and the start of spring break, there was a kids camp happening at the pool. Aside from one other family, he was the only kid not part of the camp—but somehow he kept getting pulled into their structure and asked to follow their rules. No big deal at first.

Then the camp ended, and he got shuffled out of the pool with them.

We still had time left, so I told him to go back and tell the lifeguard he was there with me. He tried. They told him to go find his counselor. So I walked over and said, “I’m his mom,” expecting that to clear things up.

It didn’t.

They kept telling me to go find his counselor.

At that point I was like… what? Who do they think I am? 😅

It took a few more attempts—rephrasing, explaining it slightly differently each time—before it finally clicked. Oh, he’s not with the camp. He’s here with his mom. He can stay.

(Also bonus points to me for a regulated nervous system that allowed this conversation to proceed calmly despite the back and forth.)

And as simple as it was, it stuck with me.

Because it felt really familiar.

Lately, I’ve been in a bit of a slump—feeling like I’ve already said everything there is to say about what Healers Unite is, but it’s not landing. Like the message is complete, but it hasn’t quite found the people it’s meant for yet.

And standing there at the pool, repeating myself in ten slightly different ways just to be understood, it hit me—

I’ve been here before.

Years in office environments, being the one asking why things were done a certain way, pointing out inefficiencies, suggesting better systems. Most of the time, it felt like talking to a wall. Until eventually, I’d either build the solution myself so people could actually see what I meant—or keep explaining it from different angles until something clicked.

Not because the idea changed.

But because the framing did.

And now here I am again—different context, same pattern.

Feeling like I’ve run out of ways to say something…when really, I just haven’t said it in the way that connects yet.

Because not everyone’s brain works the same way.

What feels obvious and structured to me doesn’t always translate immediately—and that’s not a failure of the idea. It just means I need to keep finding different entry points.

Different language.

Different angles.

Different ways in.

That moment at the pool was the reminder.

Sometimes it’s not that you’re wrong.

It’s not that you’ve said too much.

It’s not that there’s nothing left to say.

It’s that you haven’t said it in the way this person can hear yet.

So I’m not out of ideas.

I’m just being asked to keep going.

To keep sharing what I’m building—what Healers Unite is—from different perspectives, different lenses, through my own writing in as many ways as I can, and by sharing the work of others who articulate pieces of this in ways that help the message land more clearly.

Just like standing there, telling the lifeguard in ten different ways:

No—he’s not with the camp.

He’s with me.

I’m his mom.

He’s allowed to be here.

And eventually… it lands.

So I’ll keep going.

Because I know this part of the process now.

And thanks to the lifeguard for being my lifesaver today 🛟