The Washington Post (9 June 2019) posted an articled titled “Changing Channels – Millions of women wait years to fulfil their dreams — or to figure out what their dreams are”.

Here are some of their stories.

One of my biggest life surprises has to be that I have not yet found my niche career. Coming from a professional family, I grew up with the easy confidence in the fact and clear assumption that I would find my thing one day. My dad is a doctor, my mum a geologist, my brother a doctor, and my sister a speech therapist specialising in autism in children.

And then came I, with my checkered pattern of my working life bearing testament to my ongoing search for meaning in my work.

I am now 43 and still trying out various directions. I have worked as a photographer, a chef on a yacht, in investment banking back and middle office, as an environmental consultant – both in contaminated land studies, and in EIA’s. I have worked in content creation, I have the TEFL qualification, and I have studied French. I have taken courses in frugality and minimalism and social media. Currently my husband and I run 2 businesses – one an event flooring rental business, and one a solar PV company selling and fitting solar PV systems. I also write this blog from time to time to keep me inspired. Yet still I search.

So it is with a joyful heart that I come across articles such as this about the “millions of women [who] wait years to fulfil their dreams — or to figure out what their dreams are”.

There are a few truths about being a searcher like me:

• I can and will not ever give up the search for my work, my life purpose.
• Hope springs eternal. I believe that I will find my thing through the ongoing and open minded trying of new avenues.
• I inhabit a risky zone. In that foggy place where I relentlessly pursue the new in my untiring search for meaning in my work, I risk missing it entirely – as I move on too fast believing my current search to be fruitless.
• Somewhere inside I believe I already know what it is I should be doing, yet I have become so adept at not doing it, that it is deeply buried and almost lost to me.

So articles such as these warm my heart, and provide a dose of fresh hope and a boost of faith to continue the search.

Here’s an extract from Iris Gomez – “You can’t wait to have enough money to live your dream. I talk with a lot of people who think there will come a certain point that they’ll have the resources and then can start. But you have to start where you are. Even if you can’t dedicate as much time as you want, you can dedicate some. Take the time you can and believe in yourself — those are the key ingredients.”

This blog is a start. It is a place for me to write and start to see themes emerging in my life, for ideas to crystallise, and it brings me joy. It is not work.