Ultimate Playtime

My Career is my Bloodline

When I heard this edition's theme was "Career Day" I was excited and enthused! Call me lucky, I was born into my career… but it did take me some time to realize it.

I will spare you the details about my long and difficult path to finding the right career, but a few details are necessary to explain the title of my article.

I came out of high school around the time the corporate world was beginning its change from a stable 50 year career, to downsizing and hiring consultants. Slowly the world began to turn more and more people into entrepreneurs and though it might have been a painful process it has turned out to be a good thing!

I went from job to job feeling deeply unsatisfied, just knowing I was meant for something else. My husband and I moved from my hometown in Jasper to Canmore to take up work with the Federal Government. That seemed to be the last straw, the stress was horrendous and the job even worse. I was unable to sleep, my stomach had ulcers, I was a wreck!

Four years into my "career" with the Government, I had a dream about my grandmother, who was a Cree woman and a descendent from a Mother who was a Medicine woman and a Father who was a Medicine man. I was in a house that was poorly lit; it was dusty and incredibly cluttered with boxes piled all around and very high. There were no windows and no doors and the air was stale. I heard a knocking sound, and when I turned to see where it came from there was a window, and my grandmother was standing on the other side, beckoning to me.

I approached the window and she opened it for me saying: "You must leave this house or you will become very ill and die!" Frightened, I crawled out of the window and into a landscape so incredible I could hardly believe my eyes. I was awed that I now stood beside my long dead grandmother.

We walked along a pathway and she spoke to me about the current path I was on and told me it was the wrong path. I had a duty to fulfill and she would see to it that I carried it out. We came to a place in Jasper National Park, a cache at Old Fort Point. She told me one of my ancestors was buried here, and I must continue the work that he was doing 100 years ago.

We walked a little further and I asked what it was that he did when he was alive, but she just smiled at me and sat on a bench. She said she could go no further with me, but would appear on the path every once in a while to guide me. Then I woke up.

With great enthusiasm I began to unravel what this incredible dream could mean. I realized the house meant my feeling stuck in a job that was very unhealthy for me and so a few weeks later I quit. I created a company called Ultimate Playtime Holistic Adventures and began to apply for a business loan to get things moving.

Since my great-grand parents were medicine people, I believed my career was in healing and my business revolved around holistic practice. I began my University degree in Clinical Hypnotherapy, received a Master level in Reiki and various other disciplines in holistic therapies, including my traditional knowledge of medicines.

Apparently, I was on the right track, but not entirely. A few years after beginning my business, my Grandmother appeared again. This was a very short visit, she and I appeared together again in front of the cache at Old Fort Point, then she took me to a lobstick on the East side of Jasper where a bridge takes you across the Athabasca River. The lobstick was created by one of my great-uncles who did so at the request of someone in the Mackenzie party when their exploration led them through Jasper National Park. When I woke up, I phoned my mother and a few of her older relatives and began to piece together what my grandmother was trying to tell me.

I come from a line of Traditional guides, the Métis, who were instrumental in helping to develop the West, by guiding early explorers into unknown territory. The Cardinals were one Métis family from Jasper who were much sought-after guides. After the fur trade died down, there really was little need for guides anymore, so our tradition slowly died out..

Then I was born, and raised in Jasper National Park, where the only thing for a kid to do, was to explore the mountains, valleys and the bush. I gained a good amount of experience while having my fun and never thought about how it could affect me later in life. I finally got it! Not only was I to carry on the traditional medicine knowledge, but I was to become a guide!

I continued working on building my business and it is a wonderful work in progress. I changed the name of my company from Ultimate Playtime Holistic Adventures to Mahikan Trails Inc. The reason is due to another dream I had, but that is for another article! In essence, I chose Mahikan due to this dream, but it all makes sense. Mahikan means wolf in Cree, and since the wolf is my spirit animal as well as the fact that I absolutely love canines in general, it was the perfect choice for me.

So I am following the traditions of my ancestors. Although in our family it skipped a few generations; due to the interventions of my grandmother, I found my career is indeed my bloodline. I'm sure she will appear in my dreams from time to time to wag her finger at me, and I will forever be grateful when she does. It is always to lead me in the right direction and each time I accept her helping hand, it always works out!

These days in our uncertain world, making a career choice can be as confusing as deciding how to invest your money! Gone are the days of leaving high school, working for a company for 50 years and then retiring. Thankfully those days are gone and we have evolved into a more civil approach to "work" which now has the more friendly (and appropriate) title of career.

Follow your path and if you stray from it, remember, it always has a way to steer you back! Your career will find you even if you don't know what it is yet, just believe in it if you truly want to see it.

By Brenda Holder