Significance

Blog Carnival, September 11/ Etsy Bloggers

The blog carnival topics this time include: What are you most proud of in your life? The easy answer is my children. I am very proud of how both of them have matured and developed. My son is a wonderful young father; my daughter is finishing her training as a physical therapist and has a love of soccer and life which she demonstrates by coaching. They are both genuinely nice people.

As I pondered this topic during the week, however, the word "significance" came to mind. What have I done of significance in my life on my own aside from raising two wonderful children? I love creating, but don't really see that what I make as having significance beyond the small pleasure it brings me and those that see and purchase my products.

I've had a successful career in private and public service for over 30 years, but the work I think was most significant and of which I am most proud, was more than twenty years ago. I was a key participant in a project that involved assisting individuals with disabilities to move into their own homes and apartments. For most of them, it was their first time they had a key to their own place and there were many other firsts as well. I learned a lot from them as we worked to develop supports so they could live "interdependently" in the community. I learned that being in the community is not the same as being part of the community. I learned that "indendence" was not necessary and that we are all "interdependent". One of the most important things I learned was the importance of commitment. We committed to do "whatever it takes" to provide the needed supports for these individuals and I believe it was that commitment of a few key people that made all the difference. I like to think that our small efforts had real significance for the lives of those involved.