Why don’t you “W.I.S.E. Up!”?

“Why don’t you wise up, show all the people?” the music was blaring through the speakers of my car as my tires gripped the winding back roads near my home. One of my favorite rappers reciting the lyrics, striking sensory overload as the beat bounced through my body and the words sounded less like music and more like a message. The rolling hills moved from my front windshield to my rearview mirror and the moment I was cruising through seemed eerily indicative of my experience with “wising up” on my adoption journey.

As an adolescent, those rolling hills that spread across my adoption roadmap seemed like blockades, things I could never get over. I had no tools…no help…no support. I sat alone with my challenges, and I suffered. I had no “adoption wisdom.”

When I came to C.A.S.E. I was fascinated, confused, and perhaps a bit overwhelmed by all the adoption tools and resources they provided to assist one in surpassing the various challenges that come with being adopted. Where was all this stuff when I was growing up?! I eagerly dove in headfirst. These were things I was never exposed to as a child but immediately saw value in as an adult. I listened to lectures, read the materials, and learned the models C.A.S.E. had developed.

At first glance, the “W.I.S.E. Up!” curriculum looked a little juvenile. A cartoon owl sat on the colorful cover of the paperback “PowerBook”, but the message seemed applicable to adoptees of all ages: you share as much or little as you’re comfortable with when discussing your adoption story.

“W” gives you the option to simply “walk away” when asked about being adopted.

“I” allows us the power to keep our stories to ourselves, “it’s private.”

“S” stands for “share something!” We can share something personal to us OR just something about adoption in general.

“E” is for “educate them.” There’s so much about adoption people don’t know or understand and we have the ability to help them learn!

As I immerse myself deeper into the adoption community, working with adoptees of all ages, I am finding that many of us are still searching for our adoption wisdom. Some of us are still plagued by the overwhelming look of those hills across our adoption roadmaps. C.A.S.E. taught me that it’s never too late to learn a new navigational tool. I have realized that it is possible to “wise up” and move beyond those mountainous struggles as they slide into the rearview mirror. I have also found new confidence to help alleviate the anxiety of the mountains that I see on the horizon as I continue my lifelong adoption journey. I now know I have what it takes to move through them and while the climb isn’t always easy, I’ve yet to meet a mountain I can’t get over.

I blast the music back up to hear Common and Pete Rock still rapping the hook of their musical masterpiece…” Why don’t you wise up, show all the people?!”

…and as I bobbed my head to the beat, I thought to myself, “this track is speaking my purpose. W.I.S.E. up and show all the people.” I’m currently sharing and educating at every chance I get, thankful to be backed by an organization that provides me with tools and a platform to do so. The journey continues!