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While You Were Busy…

Life in workforce development land has been busy recently. New legislation means that programs need creation or revision. There are new policies, new partnerships, new procedures, new technology, and anything else that is new in life to keep us occupied.  New equals busy for those of us in workforce development land as we explore the new landscape, but when we are busy being busy we miss so many things that help us become better us.

I have taken a breather from busy for a few days to notice all the things that I was too busy to see. For example, if you pick up a fallen autumn leaf while walking you will see that there are veins in leaves that reach all areas of the leaf. Now passed its prime, those veins no longer bring water and nutrients to the leaf, but rather dry up and allow the leaf to curl from dryness.  While you were busy I noticed that the life cycle of a leaf on a New England tree is much like a business. It grows and blooms to prime. It expands and covers the sky above my head and when the leaf’s season is passed, it dies in a blaze of autumn colored glory.
 
While you were busy, I noticed that the air changes as the seasons change as programs in workforce development do.  I smelled the air change from summer sweet and floral fragrant to autumn dry and crisp. I noticed that when the air changes, the people change too. Some people fade waiting for the next summer season, while others come alive in the change in the air. They dance and play in the crispy crunch leaves. Some people cannot let the summer go and insist on not wearing a sweater, while others have embraced the season change and are wearing a jacket.

While you were busy, the acorns fell off the oak trees.  Some are destined to be the dinner on a long winter’s night for a hungry squirrel, but others may one day be the old oak tree.  Only time will tell which one acorn will transform into a wise old tree.  The same can be said about workforce development professionals.
 
While you were busy, I noticed. Did you notice anything? Did you see the seasons in the business of workforce development change or were you too busy to stop and view the landscape? In our busy lives, there will be emails to answer. There will be calls to make, data to be entered, and benchmarks to meet. There will be people that we need to help, but while you are busy helping people get back to work are you too busy to watch a job seeker change from a caterpillar to a butterfly.
 
While these thoughts are mine and mine only, I hope you take the time to find your own peace in your daily busy life. I can be reached by email at kcirincione@gmail.com, Linked In at https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenjcirincione, and I can be followed on Twitter at @kcirincione. I welcome questions, comments, and ideas. ~ Karen Cirincione

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