It’s so long between my posts recently as SO much has happened. I was working part time and going to school full-time and also did a practicum as part of my schooling and seeing a counsellor to help me deal with the stress and anxiety of learning to balance so many things at once.
I made it through – I am now a certified Community Disability Support Worker. I graduated at the top of my class (I AM going back for a Bachelor of Social Work in a year or two, however) and did very well on my practicum, which was a lot different than my previous practicum. At this placement I was involved with allot more individuals with complex needs in both a vocational and residential setting.
I really connected with a few of the individuals with whom I worked and I hope to go back and work with them in a year (due to the nature of that specific agency and the types of support it offers a vehicle is a MUST have for employment). So, although I’ve been really anti-car for most of my life I will be getting my learner’s licence in the next month, and will be purchasing a vehicle in the next year or so. I’m still determined to bike as much as I can, and only use the car for things like work and getting out to the mountains to camp, and leaving it parked the rest of the time.
I am still working part time in a deli (which I’m really not fond of – but it’s simply a tool to get me from point A to point B like the future car will be) and am waiting on a final surgery to fix my hernia before I start looking for employment in my field. Because my earlier surgery was an emergency surgery they were unable to put a mesh in, and a mesh is needed in order to keep the hernia from coming back over and over again. I think it’s probably wise for me to hold off on securing a new job until that’s been dealt with as it hardly seems fair to expect an agency to invest time and money in training me (there are a bunch of courses like “non-violent crisis intervention” and “medication administration” which are required and offered on an agency by agency basis) only to have me need a couple of months off to heal.
I guess this is a general update rather than one which gets really specific. I’m working on creating some positive lifestyle changes again, and am reading a few good books (several about fermentation, one about macrobiotics, and one on returning ones lifestyle to a more balanced, natural place). I’ve been online gaming a fair bit (with the support of my counsellor, as I seem to be learning to balance things out and to use this as a positive stress release, rather than as a avoidant behaviour).
I think about this blog daily, and my current desire is to transform it into something which reflects who I am and what my interests are a lot better. I haven’t quite figured out how to do that yet – but it’s coming.
I’m going to close this update with a video which I find inspiring on a professional level. I’m interested in the field of work I am because self-advocacy and supporting people in finding as much independence as they want to have in their lives speaks to me. It took me many years, and working through a ton of fear to get here – but this is what I’m meant to be doing in the world at this time.
The support worker who shot this video is doing something pretty cool – he’s helping the individuals he supports to create businesses based on their individual skills and interests! What’s so awesome about that is that it is celebrating who these individuals are, and it’s showing that there is room for each and every one of us to shine and to contribute to society. We are all on this planet to share ourselves and to teach one another – the Universe makes no mistakes.
Whole Foods, Whole Person 