AN AIM IN LIFE

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 39, 9 November 1918, Page 5

AN AIM IN LIFE

(By Irma O'Connor.) In years gone by the majority of women, even those.of unusual resource and initiative, found but two courses open to them—either they married,- in which case their sphere of usefulness was clearly defined, or they did .not, and thereupon found themselves doomed to fritter away their abilities in a round of inoro or less trivial occupations. Now, howevci, times have completely; changed. Tho trend of modern events has long been steadily in tho direction of enlarging tho scope of feminine activities, and the advent of a world war has given an impetus to the woman movement such as riothinp else could have done. It is no

longer merely wise and practical to havea purpose in life—it is a matter of national necessity. In tho belligerent countries womeu'ji energies have naturally been concentrated chiefly on one or other of two creat departments—in England tho Women's Army Auxiliary Corps and tho Women'? Land Army. The work of tho former is too well known to need com merit; of the latter suffice it to say that

women have not only kept going Britain s food supplies, but they nave actually revolutionised British agriculture by tho prompt introduction of labour-saving machinery and tho development of tho soil along scientific lines. What a blow to the old-fashioned "stick-in-the-mud, , conservative British farmer! But even apart from these two "armies," fields of labour hitherto undreamed of aro so constantly being thrown open to the woman worker that thero is now opportunity for almost every type of intellect. For those whose tastes lean to outdoor work there is the choice of farming, bee-keeping, wool-classinp,. fruit grading, or, above all, landscape- and scientific gardening, for which women's training schools have already been established in _ England. Thoso more mechanically inclined may turn to commercial life, to banks and post offices;'those of artistic bent to designing or architecture. And what of tho future, when times aro normal again? The woman worker is rapidly becoming too valuable to bo easily dispensed with, and for many girls a "career" will havo perforce to be all-sufficient. Tho question is not 60 miich "Can I be of any national itse?" as "What nicho in the general scheme of usefulness can-1 best fill?" The world is so pitifully full of "square pegs" already—poor, misguided human beings, helplessly trying to be one thing wihen they aro obviously intended for another. Wo havo all met the. woman who teils us, with the sadness of infinite regret in her eyes, that oneo her "heart was sot on being a nnrso, but—!" Thero is always a "but"; she was the victim of i adverse circumstances, of her own timid indecision, of parental projudico or opposition. Yet the pity of it—the hopeless, stupk: folly! A typiste, drearily nnd mechanically tapping at streotyped pTirases all day long when her very soul aches for an outdoor life, is merely a trngedv to herself and a nuisanco to her employers. National efficiency is not to bo gained by a woman's wasting her time in a vam. endeavour to paint pictures when her real—and only real—ability is for niiikinir cakes nnd puddings!

Tho truth is that for every one of us in the world thero is eomo particular niche specially destined for one person and none other, and it is for us to see that w find our own particular corners and fill them better thnn anyone else could do. When wo have realised ttiat fact we shall he far on the way towards utilising our various powers in the most practical and efficient manner.