Recognizing the Stressors: My Rubik's Cube Epiphany
By: Lorellie Munson
When reflecting on my growth in Self Regulation during the Recognize the Stressors modules, I can truthfully admit I have had one of my greatest epiphanies where all the dots seemed to connect perfectly. I have always known that the Domains had a relationship with the other Domains; however, I did not fully comprehend the direct complexity in the Domain relationships. Allow me to equate this epiphany with the Rubik's Cube - a timeless and masterful puzzle game.
The main goal of the Rubrik’s Cube puzzle is to start with a shuffled and messy configuration (as seen in the above) and, to solve by moving the faces around to get the pattern with each side being a single colour (as seen below).
As an amateur Rubrik’s Cube solver, one would see each colour as separate entities and focus on completing one side first. When attempting to solidify a second colour on a different side, the amateur soon realizes a wrong assumption has been made. All the colours are directly connected to one another. The amateur now has to approach the puzzle differently and this can only be done by RECOGNIZING how all the colours and sides are interconnected, interdependent and interwoven.
Being a Stress Detective is a similar process for me. Imagine that each colour of the Rubik's Cube represents a different Domain - yellow is the BIOLOGICAL Domain, blue is the EMOTION Domain, red is the COGNITIVE Domain, green is the SOCIAL Domain AND orange is the PROSOCIAL Domain.
I have always known that all the Domains are connected to Self-Regulation and each one contributes to truly recognizing the stressors. However, I did not truly comprehend and recognize the interconnectedness, the possibility of interdependence and the fact that each Domain is interwoven to the whole child. This realization has truly deepened my own understanding and application of Self-Regulation. This has changed my framework completely in approaching Self-Regulation from a Facilitator’s perspective. I feel more confident with this realization. In addition, there are limitless algorithms to solve a Rubrik’s Cube which allows for different approaches and ways to solve the puzzle; similarly, there is no one size fits all approach with Self-Regulation. One different rotation will result in a completely different solution. Similarly, being a Stress Detective has its own twists, turns, and rotations as you solve with high stakes complexity.
