Career options…

The next chapter.......

Last week we went along to a Career Fair run by Cormac’s college. This was an excellent idea on so many levels…

Firstly, as parents we naturally need to be supporting our youngster as they move on from their current educational setting to the next chapter in their lives. Now for most of the population (including Cormac’s two sisters) this would usually mean looking at job options or perhaps further training or studying, perhaps some travel? So where will Cormac fit in to this template I wondered? He’s 21, his whole future is ahead of him. Sure, he will always need some level of support to help keep him safe and cared for every day. However, should this factor hold Cormac back, in essence penalize him, from learning a new skill (in whatever he is interested in) that could then help Cormac to make his contribution to society, like everyone else?

Like many parents in similar circumstances, I have pondered deeply Cormac’s adult future for a very, very long time now. No surprises there. However over this same period of time, Cormac in his most beautifully natural of ways, has gently been guiding me towards reflecting on quite a profound level about how our western societies are truly structured. There is this extraordinary value put on academic qualifications, letters after names, who do I know, how big is my house, how big is my bank balance, how do I look, how do I sound, do I FIT IN?? This is SERIOUS pressure, my friends!

Equally, I think there is also some serious irony going on here…

You see, even if we choose to subscribe on some level to our man-made societal template outlined above, and to an extent, perhaps we all have to really? For example, we all need shelter (a home of some type) to survive, however we still also, just for example, need our rubbish to be disposed off carefully, from the same home. From a health perspective, we need to live and work in clean homes and offices, we also benefit enormously on so many levels from visiting well-tended parks and recreational facilities. Why then, is there no equal value placed on the skills required to tend to those plants and trees in our parks, to the attention to detail and oversight required that helps ensure our homes and offices remain safe clean places to live and thrive in? For we can’t have one without the other….!

For Cormac’s next chapter in life, I wish for him to be in an environment that continues to help encourage and support him to nurture his interests and innate skills and helps him to share these skills with the wider community, in a way that everyone can benefit from. Cormac adores in no particular order, music, nature, horse-riding, swimming, being in the company of those who love and care for him. The question now is how can we help Cormac to link these interests in to our wider community, in a way that supports everyone? Actually, perhaps no difference here really than for anyone else? The ironies continue to appear!

Happily from going along to the careers fair last week, I am learning that such options and opportunities are slowly but steadily becoming more the ‘norm’ for Cormac and his lovely peers...

It's time my friends to tweak that western societal template, to start putting a ‘value’ (if we have to use that word) on the contribution that ALL people of ALL needs can and do make to their community. For it is only when we have a template (if we have to use that word also) that everyone can fit in to, that real enrichment will occur for all; an enrichment that isn’t listed on the stock exchange…an enrichment that brings true meaning to all our precious lives.