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| Me in 2001 doing some work. |
Each work seems to have it’s place, whether I see what it is or not. The housemom is just as significant as the president, and the soldier is not at odds with the peace advocate. It all fits.
In my own life right now I’m considering a substantial transition my own career. Reflecting on my work over the decades, I increasingly see how everything has come together in my own life. Things have come full circle since I was a homeless kid in a homeless family taping a sign for my advertising company to the front door of our hotel room somewhere in America. Working as a union forklift driver, a house painter, and waiter all seems to have fit into the schema with being a summer camp counselor, state government worker, and international movement leader. At some point years ago I hung a new sign up on the Internet for my consulting business over here in the Pacific Northwest. Everything has had its place.
Working with early career youth workers in nonprofits around the country, its become obvious that everyone wrestles. Some folks see their work with young people as a transition in their lives, a step between college and the professional world. Others see youth work as their profession, and want to stay in it all their days. I used to thrash against the job-hoppers and dog on their inability to focus on the “good work.” Life has allowed me to understand differently.
Now I get that we all do what we do until we do something else. There’s no “right” way to do it, and we each have to do it for ourselves. This is as true about work as it is any other part of our lives, including our families, friends, and recreation. Each work has it’s own place.
Adam F.C. Fletcher 