Gordon H. & Barbara Nagai



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Gordon H. Nagai


That's the Way My Mind Works




Clinical Social Work


During my thirty-two year sojourn as a Social Worker, I had many opportunities to work with a variety of people from all walks of life with a variety of needs. My approach was always the same - to accord them respect, and discover those ways that would enable them to assume control of their own lives in as thorough a manner as possible. Where there were deficits or challenges that prevented that, of whatever origin, I sought to link them with supports from family, friends, or generic services within the greater community in which they lived to affect the greatest freedom possible - in the absence of any of these supports, to enable them through their own sheer grit to come up to their fullest potentials, however circumscribed. To the extent that I was successful over the years, these individuals were masters of their own fates, captains of their own ships, and sailing before the wind their birthright, inheritance, and fulfillment...

One of the things I thoroughly enjoyed as a Social Worker, being one with a quirky mind, was to look at my profession with a sense of humor, with an eye cocked toward picking up the foibles of our human condition, to smile and chuckle at who we were and what we often did....while our clinical work was always important and certainly not to be taken lightly, to laugh at myself provided the necessary perspective that enabled me to serve others without arrogance or condescension, and thus to do right by them - this piece of humor, with a clinical bent, was prepared with this in mind...





The following grew out of my frustration with the direction my country under current leadership has taken in international relations. It is folly to view the world as anything less than a global neighborhood requiring intense diplomatic creativity and cooperation - it is greater folly to pursue aggressive military actions based on unreality, lies, and deceit. I am reminded of the folly of our Vietnam policies, and especially the legacy that spawned...





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