Tamar Nigogossian
Field Guide
Joined Open Sky: May 2009
In Wilderness Therapy since: 2009
Interview with Tamar
October 2009
Q. If you were able to meet anyone (living or dead), who would it be and why?
A. I would choose to meet a Greek 4th century BC playwright by the name of Menander. I wrote my masters thesis on how his work was influenced by culture and politics and I made a lot of possibly dubious postulations. I would love to hear it from the horse's mouth and get the low down on what it was like to live in such a politically tense time. I would love to know if he was in fact a humorous man or an old cantankerous miser like so many of his characters.
Q. What are a few of the defining moments in your life and why?
A. A rainy day in Wellington with ice cream melting in the back of the car. I was driving home from the weekly shop and suddenly realized I was home. It was the most mundane of moments and the first time I truly realized that home is within me and I can carry it anywhere I go even, to New Zealand. Pretty much any time I spend in the wilderness is defining, it allows me to really see how privileged I am. I have the leisure time to go and sit with myself in the wild and not have to work around the clock to support myself. Of course, now I get paid to sit in the wilderness! How fantastic is that?
Q. Who has been your greatest inspiration and why?
A. My Parents. I grew up with the absolute certainty that I was a good person, they had faith in me and so I had faith in me. My mother taught me to think for myself and my father taught me to be strong. They have always been excellent moral and ethical role models.
Q. What are your unique gifts and/or experiences that help our students?
A. I have space enough for giants in my heart. I can hold space for others and show compassion and non judgment, providing a safe place for students to reveal their tender heats of sadness. Opening up to that tenderness is one of the first steps to healing, being tender with oneself is so very important. I also serve as a good role model; I am drug and alcohol free and always have been and I am happy and functioning without them even when life it tough.
Q. Why do you work in wilderness therapy?
A. I chose this field because I needed to give back to a community. I had been living a life all my own and fulfilling all my own needs without giving back and I was not finding happiness. Here I can give of myself to people who need it. I feel a sense of peace knowing that the work I do here can have such a profound effect on young peoples' lives. Perhaps not everyone needs wilderness therapy, but every one can benefit from it, even me.
Q. Why do you think wilderness therapy works?
A. I think that when we confront nature in the raw we cannot help but confront ourselves. When one's own survival requires us to be totally present then all else is thrown into perspective. The wilderness provides a safe place free of the distractions of our everyday lives in which we can find a moment of peace and take the time we don't make in the outside world to look within. This is a scary thing to do, and often we chose to fill ourselves with drugs, alcohol, food (the list goes on), so that we don't have to face our demons. Without these fillers, we are given little choice but to confront that void and begin to heal.
Q. What do you think Open Sky students need?
A. Compassion, tenderness, a safe space, love, boundaries and respect. These are things that, as humans, we all need. We all struggle, no one's life is smooth, and we need other people to show us compassion and tenderness so we can be compassionate and tender with ourselves. We all need a safe space with which to breakdown and cry without being judged. We all need to be loved so that we may learn to love ourselves. We need boundaries and respect so that we can be respectful of others and ultimately ourselves.
Q. What do you like to do for fun when you aren’t working in the field?
A. I am on the hunt for the ultimate milkshake! I also love to rock climb, nothing quite like a little adrenalin to get the body going! I love to feed people. I read poetry to anyone who will listen. Ultimately, I would love to speak in verse (not sure how realistic a goal this is, but it would sure be fun).
Q. Anything else you want to tell us about yourself?
A. I am human. I am fabulous and flawed. I cry, laugh, and sing with the best of them. I love my work; I love my life; I love myself; and I love most people I get to know. I always want to learn and better myself. I get frustrated and I get sad. I also get proud and happy. In other words, I am probably just like you.
Professional Experience
The Skyline Restaurant- Wellington, NZ
General Manager
Davy’s Of London- London, UK
Assistant Manager
Red Letter Days
Team Leader
Education
BA, Classics
Royal Holloway University of London
MA, Classics
Victoria University of Wellington
