#14 – Being With
#14 – Being With
This article will discuss:
Saving the world isn’t sustainable (and possible)!
Working with people
Tell me about you
“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.”
—Benjamin Franklin (1738)
Good morning, beautiful people.
Today, I want to talk about something very special in my life: being with.
You probably know by now that I like to begin with a quote. But here’s the truth. I rarely start writing and then look for a quote. It’s usually the other way around: a quote, a book, or an article stirs something in me. Then the urge to write flows quite easily.
When I read this quote by Benjamin Franklin, I first thought about my travels and the dozens of countries I’ve travelled, countless stories and thousands of people I met on the road. Then, I thought about what I’ve done with my life. What I’ve chosen to do with this precious life.
Travelling has certainly helped me “do something worth writing about.” But the truth is, I worked a lot while travelling. I travelled for work (education, humanitarian, aged-care, disability). And that made me think about my career and personal choices.
So let me take you back to where it all began.
In 2015, I was completing a Bachelor’s in economics, law, and business (between 2011–2015). Honestly, I didn’t know what I wanted to do after high school, so I chose something that could “open doors”: so business and management it was! But I was lost. It didn’t fulfil me at all. To be fully transparent, I was partying very hard and studying very little.
Learning about business? That wasn’t me at all. Funny thing is, I opened my first business last year (Sarah Frustié Therapy, SFT)! If I had known back then, I might’ve paid more attention in class. But here we are. I still graduated from this Bachelor's because I love finishing what I start.
At the same time, I was volunteering with the French Red Cross, supporting people facing homelessness and prostitution. That’s when I woke up.
This, exactly, this is what I wanted to do:
Helping.
Collaborating.
Being with people.
Searching for solutions together.
Working toward a better life.
Fighting poverty and hunger.
I wanted to save the world.
So I pursued a Master’s in Humanitarian and Social Work. I travelled, I worked abroad, and I was with people from all kinds of cultures and walks of life. I loved it. But I burned out fast, very fast. I was young too. I was and always is so sensitive. The smallest thing was affecting me. I spend days crying after work. I felt powerless and miserable. I discovered the hard way how to world is. Unfair and mad. Imperfectly beautiful.
Because the truth is:
Saving the world wasn’t what I truly wanted.
Saving the world isn’t sustainable.
I couldn’t do it.
No one can.
I was idealistic, young, and full of fire. And that “save the world” energy, looking back, was partly ego-led. But I’m not ashamed of it. That energy brought me into this beautiful realm of what I now call “Being With” or so-called "helping profession.”
Since 2015, I’ve been working full-time in this field, and I have zero regrets.
After a particularly challenging mission in the UK, I landed in Australia, burned out and exhausted. I stepped away from helping work and took jobs in hospitality, tourism, and construction, also to fulfull my visa requirements. But something vital was missing. I missed being with people. I took a break for two years.
What I was doing lacked meaning. It lacked inspiration.
That’s why I decided to study counselling and psychotherapy.
Not to save anyone. Not to change the world.
Because only you can help you. Only you can change you.
I’m just walking alongside you—if you let me.
As a counsellor.
As a companion.
As a professional.
As someone with lived experience.
As a woman.
As another human being.
The key is you.
We all need someone to start—or continue—the healing with.
But what you need is already inside you. Maybe buried deep, but still there. Ready to rise. Ready to shine.
This, to me, is what’s worth writing about:
Being with you.
Being with nature.
Being with myself.
Being in this world.
Being with community.
If even one of my words wakes something in you and makes you feel, reflect, shift, or wonder, then I know I’m doing the right thing.
So tell me:
Do you write something worth reading?
Do you do something worth writing?
Or maybe… both?
I’m sending you pure, genuine love—light-filled and warm.
Take care of your whole self. Care for each other. Care for your community.
Nurture and honour the natural world, the one around you and within you.
Sarah from sarahfrustietherapy
Resources
Franklin, B. (1738). [1733-1758]. Brooks, Van Wyck (ed.). Poor Richard: The Almanacks
for the years 1733-1758. New York: Paddington Press. ISBN 9780846701200.
Written 13/04/2024
Published 27/05/2025
