I thought I would use this last assigned blog to talk about next steps. At this point I know I will finish the MSW program. Even though I have two summer classes left to complete, finishing up this semester feels like I have accomplished what I came to do.
So what did I come here to do?
· After a thirty year hiatus I came to finish my education.
· Be a responsible professional in the human service field.
· Understand what I have been doing all these years and how and why it is important.
· Share ideas with and learn from expansive thinkers in the field.
· Figure our specifically what niche works best for me.
· Make myself more hirable as I age and relocate.
· Work more deeply in a profession that supports my personal value of altruism.
· Increase opportunities for me to work with people holding the same values and ethics I do.
At this juncture I feel like I am well on the way to completing all the above except one – what niche works best for me. After forty years of human service work and education I don’t know exactly what specific area I want to work in. One person I interviewed with for a potential LCSW intern position suggested I pick one that I feel drawn to and see how it works out. If it’s not the right one simply move on to another one. Of course that is what I have been doing my entire work life. If I may indulge myself without boring the reader too much: ranch hand, electrician (residential, commercial, and shipboard), group home operator, inpatient psychiatric technician, mental health counselor, mental health program director, HIV prevention coordinator, adolescent mental health and substance abuse counselor, adult treatment program supervisor, graduate student, family court mediator, college instructor, and foster family case manager. Of course each one of those professions has sub levels. For example I was a phlebotomist drawing blood for HIV testing in an outreach program when I was working as a HIV prevention coordinator and I served on several boards of directors for community based programs.
Whew. Maybe it is time for a rest instead of figuring out what to do next – as if. My current plans are to continue teaching at the local community college and work in various programs and clinics in the area to acquire my LCSW hours. All very part time. That is one thing I am absolutely certain of. Working part time. A more proper description might be setting my own hours. I simply work better when I work twelve hours one day, none the next, and six the next.
Without trying to sound ‘Zen like’, I think the next thing I do is simply the next thing I do. I enjoy being with real people talking about real things. Not great on small talk but if there is a human problem to solve I am there for it.
I think it is also time to not spend so much time in my head. The last four years of college have been focused on reading and writing – which I thoroughly enjoy doing. But my physical work skills are ‘a laggin’. The next few years will include playing the guitar, fixing bikes, and building things for myself and others. I don’t see these activities as separate from social work. Some of the best work I have done has been talking to an adolescent while digging a ditch for a water line.
I hope by writing the above I can somehow encourage others to embrace the things they love doing with mindfulness and respect. Professor Yellow Bird in the Humboldt State University MSW program keeps talking about the importance of engaging the neurons in the frontal cortex. I think talking about how to engage the frontal cortex is another way of emphasizing the importance of living life in a mindful and respective manner. I also believe that living life this way builds on itself. It becomes more and more natural and the mirror neurons (see previous blog) of those around us kick in creating a more mindful culture. I want to live in a mindful, respectful culture. I want my family and children to live in a mindful and respectful culture. I want my community to be mindful and respectful. And of course the world. The only way that can happen is if I am mindful and respectful.
So as I write these lines the next few years come into focus. Stay as mentally, physically, and spiritually healthy as I can. Spend time with my family. And work in the area of social work I find most exciting – today.
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