As we have done in this set of essays, Gilligan expands the notion of care in both space and time. As a result:
“. . . the notion of care expands from the paralyzing injunction not to hurt others to an injunction to act responsively toward self and others and thus to sustain connection. A consciousness of the dynamics of human relationship then becomes central to moral understanding, joining the heart and the eye in an ethic that ties the activity of thought to the activity of care.” (Gilligan, 1982, p. 149)
Thus, the ethic or (more broadly conceived) virtue of deep caring becomes a thoughtful, sustained initiative engaged through all four of the generative roles we have identified in this set of essays. It extends time and space, offering a bridge of creation and caring tying together multiple generations within the context of a generative society: “The virtue of care ties together different generations, promotes exchange between generations, and passes on values from generation to generation. Thus, generativity includes both creating and caring.” (Imada, 2004, p. 91)
We have journeyed through many ideas and narratives offered by many generative players in this series of essays. We have gained insights about deep caring through this journey and hope that you, the reader, have also learned something about why and how people engage in deep caring. We also hope that you have gained insights and ideas about how one might most effectively operate as a generativity-oriented coach. We have offered several titles for coaches that seek to enhance generativity – these titles ranging from Discernment coach to Family coach. Take your pick . . .
We conclude by turning back to where we started– by offering the thoughts about caring offered by Erik Erikson, the wise visionary who first initiated this journey of discovery about generativity more than fifty years ago: “Caring is the widening concern for what has been generated by love, necessity, or accident; it overcomes the ambivalence adhering to irreversible obligation.” [Italics in the original] (E. Erikson, 1964, p. 131) These are words to live by and to guide our work as a professional coach.
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