Words Seaside Sue, Publisher & Founder
Canadian Small Business Week is October 18 to 24, and every year Seaside supports local businesses with a very special feature (pg 12) that showcases how wonderful our community really is. This year, I’ve been thinking about “career” a little differently. I’ve been thinking about my two adult children.
My son Lucas is now in his second year of teaching. Watching him step into a classroom, take on the responsibility of educating young people and find his own way in a profession he cares about has made me incredibly proud. There is something special about seeing your child discover what they are meant to do – and then have the courage to commit to it.
My daughter Eva has taken a very different path. She is playing professional volleyball in Europe, thousands of kilometres from home, pursuing something she has worked toward for years. Her “office” changes from country to country, her days are filled with training, travel and competition, and her career looks nothing like what I might have imagined when she was little.
In both of them, I see something remarkably similar. They have each chosen a path of their own. We often talk about careers in terms of businesses, paychecks, titles and success. But perhaps a career is simply the thing we choose to pour our time, energy and heart into. It can be a classroom, a volleyball court, a small business a trade, a creative passion … or something we haven’t even discovered yet.
As a parent, I’ve learned that one of the greatest joys is not choosing the path for your children, but watching them find it for themselves. I’ll certainly be supporting local businesses. But I’ll also be celebrating something bigger: people who have found their purpose and are brave enough to follow it.
And I couldn’t be prouder of the two people I get to call my children.
Clothing provided and styled by Sidney Pier & Path. Photo Janis Jean
