Expected Transitions

 

My new occupation has not made much progress this week. I did not actually make it to the shop because I was drowning in schoolwork. I felt like I could not catch a breath. Something that did come to my mind this week as I thought about my newer occupation of welding, was a project I could get started on the next time I end up in the shop. I will have to see if I need to buy material or if the project is even feasible, but the project would be to build a frame for the gated fence on the side of my house. The two current gates are leaning against each other acting like a fence. Hopefully my ideas can be consolidated and refined to make a stout and sturdy gate frame.

Here is what I have pictured in my mind:

Reflecting on the factors that contributed to a change in my occupation, I can sense a part of self-identity with the ability to do masculine things and still be feminine. As I touched on last weeks blog, I typically am attracted to occupations that challenge me independently, but occupational identity is so much more than what you do independently. My new environment of being alone and having to reach out to other possible resources to see if they can make this project possible, reflects the need for others knowledge and what they can provide for me. My social network is an important aspect of my new occupation. My ability to do what most others would label as a masculine task reflects on my cultural values. All of these constructed perspectives of occupation contribute to my self-identity.

My self-identity has bled into my occupational identity, and I base this off of my independence and capability once again. The way in which this supports my occupation of welding is through the independence of the task of welding. The task of welding is not typically considered a team effort, but the environment around me can be. I could not have tried to mechanic or learned how to weld if it wasn’t from the help of others. The strive for a challenge without the knowledge is what has attracted me to the two occupations I have tried thus far. My experiences with occupations throughout my life expected or unexpected have certainly been a driving force in the occupations I choose to engage in today. My current situation has in fact been a contribution to the occupation of welding. Transitions such as mine can be a reminder, a supporter of ideas, or something I can create meaning from if it didn’t already have meaning in the first place.