Little girl grown up is looking for a job.  Having graduated from college in May and completing her third and final internship in August it is time to spread her wings and find that first big-kid job.  She has decided to do it in Chicago…alone…200 miles from home and her hometown university.  Since I’m not brave I am in awe of this child of mine and the bravery she is showing.  While others her age are taking advantage of the safety net called “my parent’s home” during this stage of life, she is choosing a different setting – a small studio apartment high up above the streets of downtown Chicago.  This is ground zero for her.  The launching pad to the life she is dreaming of.  When I was her age I dreamed of doing exactly what she is doing but that’s all it was…a dream.  I never had the courage to follow through.  But her….she is living it.  The tiny apartment, the walk to the redline, the total anonymity in the sea of faces.  You could look at this and say wow, that is awesome! Or, right now, 3 months in, you could look at it and say it is not going well.

So far, she has learned about rejection.  That job that she was advised to go to Chicago to find because there are so so many more opportunities there has not materialized.  With every rejection one more layer of resiliency is formed but when is the time that it begins to erode and wear thin?  As her parent I want nothing more than to protect her from the hurt that is chipping away at her confidence.  It is making me realize the importance of one.

Little girl grown up needs one person – just one person in that big, big city of many to take a chance on her.  She’s had many who have encouraged her and empathized with her.  They’ve told her not to give up, they’ve told her how difficult that first job can be to find, they’ve counseled her on strategy and helped her fine tune her portfolio of work. I am grateful that they are keeping her afloat. But…. they haven’t hired her and this is what she needs.  Somewhere out there, and hopefully soon that one person will emerge and say, “Yes, let’s do this. I believe in you enough to launch your career.”

I believe in good mojo, karma, good vibes.  Since I am left to only advise from afar in this situation, I am left wondering what my power of one can be in my own world. Who can I impact in the way I am hoping someone will impact my daughter? What positivity and hope and momentum can I facilitate or give to just one other person?  Can I be the one for someone else who is struggling to keep their head above water in any of a number of ways?  I want that one person for my child – some stranger who will swoop in and save the day for little-girl-grown-up.  Time for me, in my mid-sized town, 200 miles away from her daily search for that one person, to see what I can do to impact someone’s life. Perhaps I can give to someone here what I so desperately want little-girl-grown-up to receive.