Getting Old

For some reason I have had a pretty hard time getting back into the groove of school since we had our week off for Spring Break. I've been getting the readings and the work done the past two weeks but I have not felt completely there. I had a hard time following the readings this week which made it challenging to think of responses to the forum questions.

So, that is why I'm taking a break from writing about what I'm learning in my classes, and I'm going to write about the fact that I'm turning another year older tomorrow. I'm still young, but I can't help but think if this is where I ever thought I would be at 26.

I recently received a letter in the mail from my English teacher from my Sophomore year of high school when I was 15. It was a letter I had written to my future self and my teacher promised to mail it to us in 10 years. I couldn't believe she actually came through and did it! Sure enough it was a letter from my 15 year old self imagining what my 25 year old self would be doing. It was quite comical to read that I KNEW I wouldn't be living in Humboldt County anymore when of course, I'm living in Humboldt County and will probably never leave which is what I want. Other than that it was fairly accurate. I said that I would be married with kids (got married in September, expecting baby #1 in June).

I have grown up so much in the last 10 years, had many experiences, and learned an immense amount about life and how I want to live it. With every passing year, I learn even more and all of that effects my beliefs and behaviors and where I will end up in another 10 years. Each year brings it's new challenges, but overall, I don't mind turning another year older. It's another year of learning about life that I get to look forward to and I can't wait.

Balancing Act

Yes, I did steal the title of this blog from one of my colleagues, but it is just so perfect for what I have to say this week. I feel like in everything in life, we can always come back to the concept of balance.

In one of my class sessions recently, we talked about Professional Use of Self. This is a very interesting and important topic to think critically about as I start my new role as social worker. It talks about using my authentic self in my social work practice with my clients. Use of my personality, my belief system, my relational dynamics, my anxiety, and my self-disclosure. In every one of these aspects, balance is the most important thing to put into practice. We must learn how to properly and positively use the unique set of ways each of us has engrained in us while making sure the focus is on being helpful to our clients. Sharing personal experiences, especially when methods used had positive outcomes, can allow our clients to feel more comfortable makes it easier to relate to our clients and show credibility. However, talking too much about ourselves and out beliefs will come off as being arrogant. Balance.

I also think it's important to realize that each client and each situation we find ourselves in as social workers is going to be completely different. We have to be able to read our clients and know them very well in order to determine how much of ourself would be appropriate to include in our practice. This is all part of being a social worker. Being adaptable, creative, and thinking critically. That's how we will find balance.

What Can We Do?

Well, this week in one of my classes, we looked at different tools of colonization that have been used and are still used today in our society. The topic that stood out most to me was that of offensive sports teams mascots. As a huge sports fan, this really got me thinking about how I have watched teams like the Cleveland Indians and Washington Redskins and have thought they needed to be changed but what could I do? Both these professional sports teams are consistently successful and popular money makers so why would the greedy people that run them want to change the mascot and jeopardize this success? I certainly don't have enough power or money to influence a change. So I thought maybe I could try and make people aware of these offensive mascots and see if we could have a chance at strength in numbers. But most people seems to say "what's the big deal" or "it doesn't really matter because it doesn't effect me".  So after becoming somewhat passionate about this topic, I had to end my episode of frustration by saying "what can we do?" How can we make people realize that these mascots are contributors to the drug abuse, violence, and suicide problems that occur on reservations? I guess this is why I am learning to be a social worker...so I can come up with an answer to that question.

Roles

This week I have been thinking more about all my roles. I have been overwhelmed when I actually list all the roles I have to play. Even in my role as "employee" at my job, I have several smaller roles inside that. The list goes on and on as to the juggling act we all have to play balancing our many roles as friend, wife, mom, sister, daughter, etc. I realized that although I am aware of all these roles, I more or less just go through life performing in these roles without thinking about it. It helps to take a step back and really look at the amount of roles we take on. I know it makes me feel better about what I'm accomplishing in my life as I look at all the tasks I perform on a daily basis. It can also help us prioritize and organize our life and set boundaries for taking on more roles. Once we can use this self-reflection tool to help us in our own lives, we can apply the concept of examining roles and role expectations when working with clients in order to help them succeed in all of their roles as well.

New to Blogging, Excited to Start...

Even though I thought I was pretty in the know about technology, I have had hardly any experience with blogs. I have never had a blog, but I am excited for the opportunity to start one. The only blogs I have read are ones by friends that usually involve their awesome travel experiences, especially photography. I liked those blogs because it was a great way for me to feel connected to my friends and learn about what they were doing. I am not sure what I will use my blog for, probably just for discussing my thoughts and ideas about the readings in the classes we are taking or my thoughts about my future in social work. I haven't struggled much with blogging so far, I think the hardest part was coming up with a domain and title for my blog! Here we go...