Friday, November 9, 2012

The huge crush I have on my job

I keep saying I'm going to blog more. I still haven't figured out if this is a knitting blog, a cooking blog, or a confessional-diary blog. It might just be a place where I check in with whatever I'm doing - often knitting, of course. Well.

What's new: Last week I started my DREAM JOB working at a halfway house with women in early recovery from drug addiction. Our program was the first in MN to allow women to have their children with them in a halfway house. The first time I heard about the place and what they do, I was astounded. Why doesn't everyone do it this way? I haven't figured that out, but we're doing it, we're damned good at it, and it works for our clients.

I have been wanting to work here forever and I first applied in March 2010. I was losing my grant-funded job in the schools and saw there was an opening, and I thought "It must be the Universe's will for me to be there!" Well, apparently it wasn't. I didn't have the right credentials. I was crushed. CRUSHED. I mean, I found my mom and cried (at 25 years old) and went to a meeting and worked some steps on it. And then I went back to school and got the classes I needed, did an internship at this amazing halfway house and fell even more in love with it, and got the right credentials. But - there was no job there by that point. So a position was created for me as a sort of substitute counselor, covering maternity leaves and vacations and illnesses at all our affiliated programs. I worked with men, women, seniors, children, families, everyone. I did whatever needed doing and went wherever I was sent. I did this for two years, trusting that I was where I was meant to be. I loved the saying by Therese Stewart-Jacobs: "Paths are made by walking." So I just kep moving forward. And I made it no secret that the women's halfway program was my happy place.

The week of my birthday this fall, I found out there was an opening at my happy place. I was completely delighted. Giddy. This was the same week the article came out that I blogged about previously. I was psyched. I prayed, I brushed up my resume, I talked about it to death, I worked steps on it (nothing like reading the 3rd step prayer on the highway at 70mph because you are sick of feeling miserable!), I interviewed, I fretted, I worked more steps, and then I was hired. Miracle. Miracle, miracle.

So I started last Thursday, and everything Oprah said about having your dream job is true. The thing I remember most from Oprah's dream jobs episode (which I saw in 2010 while I was interning) is that your dream job gives you energy. It excites you. You talk about it even when you're not there. You get a sense of meaning and gratitude from your work. Dream job: I haz it!

I still have to do crappy paperwork and deal with annoyances like everyone else. But I get to celebrate women getting their lives back, even when it runs contrary to everything their addictive illness is telling them. I get to work with a group of smart, talented, committed professionals who are funny as hell. And I get the satisfaction of knowing I'm right where I'm supposed to be. I love my job. How freaking awesome is that?!

2 comments:

  1. FANTASTIC! Congratulations - what a wonderful story to share.

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  2. I am so proud of you. What an inspirational story on so many levels. Keep rockin' the awesome!

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