Blog Post #6

When I first saw that we would be reading about chaos theory this week, I was extremely interested. I truly believe in the randomness of events and I've had a hard time applying realism to some of the more orderly theories we've discussed in class. As nice a thought as it is that we can line up our career goals and see them through from concept to completion, I think that more often than not people find their career paths in a much more random fashion. I firmly believe that, "the world is totally connected: that is to say that there are no events anywhere in the universe which are not tied to every other event in the universe" (Bloch, 2005, p. 196). Not everything can be stable and not everything can be changing at all times, but it is "In this border between stability and change, (where) life is unpredictable" (Bloch, 2005, p. 198). As career counselors, we have to be able to live in that middle ground, where chaos is real and change needs to happen for growth to occur. Humans do look for order and for their lives to proceed in a linear fashion. For anyone who has experienced any form of dramatic change in our lives (which is probably all of us), we know that as much as we plan for things, life does not always proceed in an orderly manner and that "living in the non-deterministic world of complexity is confusing to humans" (Bloch, 2005, p. 198).

I was personally drawn to the concept of our "secret career stories" or the idea that "career paths are characterized by unexplained trajectories and apparent, but not actual disconnections" (Bloch, 2005, p. 198). I always think of my father as a great case study for explaining the idea of a non-linear career path. Although he always knew he wanted to be a psychologist and he was educated appropriately for his career path, he did not follow a linear path to get to where he is today. He also taught me to be proud of the twists and turns in your life (both professionally and personally) and that even the best laid plans can surprise you with unexpected changes that you should embrace rather than trying to redirect it back onto the straight and narrow path. Even today, my father works primarily in his chose field, but he also has three other part-time jobs that complement his other talents as a professional. Even though these other jobs are under the umbrella industry of human services it he would not have "embraced the chaos" so to speak, he would have missed out on a wealth of career opportunities and chances to enrich others' lives.

Lastly, although I do find merit in the theory discussed in this article, one thing that concerns me is how a counselor could employ it with a client without coming off as having their "head in the clouds". Depending on who your client is, they may not find this theory grounded in reality and the counselor would need to know this about their client before employing this theory with them. We have to fully understand that "the opportunity for creativity occurs at the transition points" (Bloch, 2005, p. 204).

Bloch, D.P. Complexity, Chaos, and Nonlinear Dynamics: A New Perspective on Career Development Theory. The Career Development Quarterly, (53). 2005, p. 194-207.