Comfortabe with Paradox

I had time today to visit a lot of social work blogs and others as well. I didn't have an agenda or a clear purpose, and I didn't realize the amazing journey I had started until I realized hours had vanished and I had only scratched the surface. When I stumbled on Social Work Blogs, I found an amazing listing of all current social work blogs and the recent posts. What a great resource and source of inspiration for those who are new to blogging in social work. There a LOT of social workers who are sharing their stories in the blogosphere!

Along the way I posted several comments and signed up to follow several blogs. As I read these blogs, I was struck by the variety of

• blogs design (use of color,format, photos, font)
• themes (clinical social work, self-reflection, new social workers, adovacacy, blowing off steam)
• simplicity vs complexity
• length of posts
• frequency of posts per month

There were many commonalities as well, but the one that struck me hardest was how social workers are constantly dealing with ambiguity and paradoxes. As much as

Image via Wikipedia

we try to systmatically work with clients, there is never a clear path to walk with our clients towards goal attainment. In fact, if we do stumble upon an easy case, we stop and scratch our head and wonder, "What's going on here? What am I missing?" Easy and clear are not terms that are common to social workers. This is one of many realities of the social work that shapes our personal and professional lives every day. The "grist for the mill" in all of the social work blogs I read today touched on this reality in one way or another - which was drew me into reading and commenting on all of those blogs today.

Celebrating Flag Day

Today is National Flag Day, and to celebrate, I posted our flag outside our front door. It made me think of the men and women who are social workers on active duty in the US military, and colleagues serving as civilians in the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs. Did you know that there are 17,728 social work postions in the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs? If you are looking for a job with the federal government, go to USAJOBS - The federal government's official job site.

Check out these facts from Social Work Jobs in the Federal Government:

• Social Workers are in high demand at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to support troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The number of positions at the VA increased by more than 650 from 2005 to 2006. Click here to read articles on Help Starts Here's Web site about Social Work.
  
• In the Department of Defense, the Army, Navy and Air Force each have 200-900 social work jobs.
  
• The Forest Service (In the Department of Agriculture) employs over 400 people classified as “Social Services Aid and Assistant.”
  
• The Bureau of Indian Affairs contains the majority of social work and social services positions in the Department of the Interior. The National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service each contain an addional twenty positions in social services.
  
• The Indian Health Service provides the majority of positions in social work and social services in the Department of Health and Human Services.
  
• The National Institutes of Health (part of the Department of Health and Human Services) employs more than forty people in social work.
  

Thank you to all who work and serve our country as social workers in the federal government!

Quote for June 10, 2009

There is in us an instinct for newness, for renewal, for a liberation of creative power. We seek to awaken in ourselves a force that changes our lives from within. And the same instinct tells us that this change is a recovery of that which is deepest, most original, most personal in ourselves.

– Thomas Merton

7%

My colleague and friend, Harriet, sent the article posted below and I love it! I am forwarding it to my friends via email and sharing it here as well. I am inspired by the overall message that I need to hear over and over - "Keep things in proper perspective!" Today, #2 is important to me as I face a pile of projects that loom large in my life. Which of these resonates with you?

Some worthwhile, reasonable, uplifting thoughts herein.
Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio . "To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested column I've ever written." My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words ''In five years, will this matter?".
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time, time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come.
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.


It's estimated 93% won't forward this. If you are one of the 7% who will, forward this with the title '7%'. I'm in the 7%. Remember that I will always share my spoon with you! Friends are the family that we choose for ourselves.