Week 5 Journal Entry

My reflection on A Hero's Journey

I really enjoyed watching this video, and then reading it again later. I am beginning to see that each of the speakers throughout the course so far, speaks of finding meaning in life as an important part of the entrepreneurial journey. I can see where this would be important as a businessperson. In the process of finding or creating meaning in life, one becomes anchored to humanity, and hopefully also to God through the process. I naturally seek and create meaning in my life because I am a humanitarian, not a businessperson. I have a bachelor's degree in Human Services and have worked in medical social work in hospitals and nursing homes.  Unfortunately, I am not 'qualified' to do the same jobs that I previously did, because they require a Master's of Social Work here in North Carolina. I love people, I love hearing their stories, and figuring out what makes them tick. I find medical things so fascinating and interesting, and tuck "random" things in the back of my mind for later. Talking with and connecting with people is what I lose track of time doing. My calling is people-oriented! Perhaps not business oriented. Business feels so foreign to me. It's a new language, a new way of thinking about jobs, money, and careers. I feel so disconnected from it, but I find myself stretching and growing and clarifying my interests and passions as I take my classes this semester.

For a different perspective of myself, I asked my best friend, my sister, my mother, and my husband: "For an assignment at school (I could swear I read this somewhere in this course), What is the one thing that I do better than anybody else? And can you give me an example?"

 They all mentioned my intuitive ability to connect with people - emotionally, spiritually, and medically. They described my ability to listen to a person, hear them, and reflect back what I hear, then help them see that in a different light, from a different perspective. or help them work through it with validation and without judgment. Or I know just the right thing to help someone feel better when they are sick, even if it's only helping symptoms and not a "cure". 

My sister calls me when she wants to know if she should take her kids to the doctor, and I told her to take a Covid test both times she had Covid (somehow, I just "knew" it was Covid). 

My husband was sick last week with a really bad sore throat and wanted a Covid test. I got one for him, feeling like it wasn't Covid, but maybe strep throat. I lamented that it was too late to go to urgent care to get tested and continued giving him throat coat tea. Meanwhile, I was bathing in essential oils and taking colloidal silver and giving it to my kids who had lots of exposure to him. Early the next morning he went to urgent care, where he was diagnosed with strep throat. None of the rest of the family got strep throat. 

When my son had appendicitis a few years ago, I remembered my mom telling me how to diagnose an inflamed appendix after her trip to the ER with my teenage sister following a ruptured ovarian cyst. ER doctor told her. - You take your thumb and put in on your belly button, and your pinky finger and put it on your hip. If the area under the three folded fingers hurts, it's the appendix. Of course, there is usually vomiting, sweating, and extreme pain as the symptoms. My son had pain there so I told him to get in the car, that we were heading to the ER. My husband wanted to 'wait and see' because he thought it was a virus. Nope! Off to the ER. It was the appendix.

So, the question for me to discover at this point is - what can I do as a job or profession with these skills? It's not exactly legal for me to practice medicine or therapy without "proper training" or  a license! And what job or profession uses both? And doesn't take many years of schooling? I'm 50 now! :)


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