This weeks blog will be based off of LifeSpan's chapters 9 and 10 regarding Early and Middle Adulthood.
I believe to be still in the Novice Phase, especially because I have reflected at age 30 and decided to make a career change, so I felt I recognized with this stage the most. Levinson's phase descriptions were relatable and well thought out.
Fromm's theory of validation really hit home for me. I feel you go your whole life looking for that feeling. The reciprocal sharing of deep secrets and feelings that allow people to feel loved and accepted. Every aspect of life you have the yearning to feel accepted. Whether it be through adolescence and seeking identity, or finding a career and starting over, or finding your soulmate. Each step of the way validation played a factor in how you felt and possibly why you remember it feeling rewarding. We work hard in our jobs for this validation too. It is critical in middle adulthood, but I feel as if we seek it throughout our whole life.
This also correlates with Erickson's theory of intimacy versus isolation. We start building deeper relationships as we enter this phase of life, and our early adulthood. We fall in love with not only people but in life as well. We seek intimacy from many aspects of life.
Career development and work identity was described perfectly, except not everyone has a mentor or has the right guidance counselor in college to help direct them. I wish I would have explored other options early on and wasn't so focused on just getting done and into the work force. I would advise students now to take their time if they are unsure or passionate of something. There is no rush. Focus on what aspects make you happy, do the internships, get involved and experiment. It is your one time to be extremely selfish with the decisions your are about to make for the rest of your life. What are your thoughts? Does everyone feel that they had been given enough direction?
Middle Adulthood, was described kind of sadly to me. We have to start worrying about illnesses and constantly checking our health. Its like we worked so hard to get here and finally it's time to retire and we find out that we are sick or our spouse is sick. It's sad but I will say my parents are very good about getting their yearly checks, and it is important to take care of yourself now so it will benefit you in your 50-60's.
I couldn't agree more about the importance of validation and how it is an anchor of development throughout our lives. When you stated, " Every aspect of life you have the yearning to feel accepted. Whether it be through adolescence and seeking identity, or finding a career and starting over, or finding your soulmate. Each step of the way validation played a factor in how you felt and possibly why you remember it feeling rewarding. We work hard in our jobs for this validation too. It is critical in middle adulthood, but I feel as if we seek it throughout our whole life." I believe validation should be explored by more theorists as it carries an unbelievable importance throughout our lives.
ReplyDeleteHi Arisa, Great post! As I am 30 years old and seeking a career change, I can relate to your post. I wish I was took college a little more serious too. I too was more worried about graduating college than really focusing my career. I would also agree that validation follows us in everything we do. We are always looking to be accepted in whatever it is that we are doing. I know times may be tough right now being thirty years old going back to school, but I know we will look back on at this in ten years, and realize it was the best decision we made.
ReplyDeleteKeep on, keepin on!
Hi Arisa! I really enjoyed your blog this week because it gave me a new look on a few of the theories that I overlooked. Fromm's theory, in particular, of acceptance. I did not connect the dots that this acceptance is desired from all walks of life. Now reflecting back on previous readings even the years of childhood and adolescence had a strong desire of acceptance but not through relationship but rather through the peers. I too also constantly feel the need for acceptance not only in my work life but my personal relationships too.
ReplyDeleteHey Arisa. I will comment on two of your points because they hit home for me the best. The first is the validation discussion. We all need and want validation. I think it mores comes from the idea we want to make sure what we are doing is the right thing. I also think we search for validation in our personal life because unfortunately there are so many employers that will not give you validation for your work so we try harder to get it somewhere. The other point I want to talk about is the career development. I didn't have the strongest guidance counselling coming out of college before. I feel that is why my career has been in stagnation for a few years. Proper mentoring or guidance is very important in career development in adulthood.
ReplyDeleteHey, the concept of validation also struck me. After reading your blog this week, I sort of just realize that the need for acceptance and love and care seems to function as a survival instinct for humans. Half of the reason why we have evolved so far as a species is our social behavior. Feeling loved and validated is one of the ways that we know that we are contributing to the community in some way. I was especially intrigued by this fact because of the need for validation in my own life, especially in my early adulthood.
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ReplyDeleteHey Arisa, I definitely agree with you in regards to wishing that we are provided with more options to explore our interests in a certain career path. However, I do feel like society does add pressure on us to figure out quickly what we want to do as a career. I remember sometimes in high school we were asked
ReplyDeleteabout our career choice and when some people would say undecided it was kind of frowned upon. We were just hit with a look of raised eyebrows and told we need to figure that out. One thing i wished is that we were provided with more information, guidance, and options. I wish we would have been taken on field trips or informed about different careers and get a sense of what it’s like. I also agree with your with your point on validation i believe that we either in the work force or in our personal life for that assurance that we are doing something correctly or going on the right path.