Week 5/Synchronicity

First, I wanted to comment on the presentation by Joan Blades.  Her Living Room Conversation idea is great, because it focuses on understanding that everyone has disagreements, and that’s okay, and we can work on moving forward when we have disagreements.  I think this is something that is very relevant within the last couple of days with the disagreements in our government causing the shutdown.  While the Living Room Conversation was interesting, something that struck me was the information presented at the beginning about women (more specifically mothers) in the workplace and as leaders of companies.   Why, as one of the most developed countries in the world, do we not consistently provide paid maternity leave?  This devalues to work and influence that mothers have on their babies and young children.  I don’t remember the statistics she presented, but I remember her mentioning the lack of women and mothers in leadership positions, which is unfortunate.  As a future mother, I hate the idea of having to choose between my career and motherhood.  I hope that I am able to find a balance when it comes time for that. 

After reading the synchronicity article, all I can think is “I want that aha moment!”  The interesting thing about each of the case studies presented, the client had been in career counseling and self-examination.  Once they did so, the new career or job just seemed to fall into their laps!  Each of the clients were of different ages, but had just found themselves “stuck” in their current positions.  It just goes to show that our lives change, and so do our needs.  While one job may work for awhile, it does not mean that job will continue to satisfy us for the rest of our working lives. 

The article explains that counselors should take a holistic approach rather than solely relying on traditional approaches.  From what I could understand, the holistic approach recognizes that career development is a search for meaning, and understands that spirituality is part of that process.  As discussed a little bit in previous weeks, our careers are a large part of our lives, and create meaning for many people.  I thought Jung’s definition of individuation was interesting in that it’s “the process through which we risk becoming who we really are” (Guidon & Hanna, 2002, pg. 196).  Through that process, we can find our authentic selves, which will lead us to discovering a meaningful career. 

Guindon, M. H., & Hanna, F. J. (2002). Coincidence, happenstance, serendipity, fate, or the hand of God: Case studies in synchronicity. The Career Development Quarterly, 50(3), 195-208.