“She is living her dream,” said my daughter in summary of a friend we visited over Columbus Day Weekend 2010. If I had tried I couldn’t have figured out how to get that message across so simply and completely to my children. Continue reading…
Must we all be entrepreneurs?
This week I was thinking about how to define “transition.” It brought to mind one of my favorite movie scenes of all time, a scene from the Dead Poets Society. In it Robin Williams plays a high school English teacher, Professor Keating. At one point he has each child walk to the front of the classroom and stand on top of his desk – looking out at the class. It is a powerful moment that allows the kids to see that one can get great energy by taking the time to use another lens to look at something familiar. Continue reading…
What’s your Agenda?
” I wasted a lot of time,” confided a long-time friend as she described the years that she had not worked outside the home. She and I were having a conversation about her decision to return to work. At the time she had three high school aged children. The dialogue stayed with me.
A recent conversation got me thinking about this ‘wasted time’ exchange. A friend was out and about with a visible kick to her step. Continue reading…
The Baseline: An elusive tool
Last Sunday my family and I participated in the Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk. For those who aren’t Bostonians, the Jimmy Fund is the fund-raising arm of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute dedicated to supporting research on childhood cancers. My daughter and I were walking a pace or two behind our team. We happened to be interspersed with a group called Jessica’s Twinkling Stars. There were maybe 30 of them including 8 or 10 little girls about my daughter’s age. Each of the girls had a light purple crocheted hat; some hats were adorned with white flowers. My eight year old daughter was captivated by the hats. Continue reading…
Gender Roles: A Child’s Perspective
“Does someone pay you?” quipped my daughter this morning as I tried to explain my current self-employed status. She and my son have been on the “does Mom work?” line of questioning over the past week. It is clear to me that they are struggling in their minds to understand my role, or said better, my changed role. Continue reading…
Summer Book Review Finale: Learnings?
An incident struck me yesterday morning. I was walking with two neighbors at the crack of dawn — as I do regularly. We were discussing an issue that hit a chord with one of my compatriots. She physically changed as the conversation ensued. Her body tensed and she began to shake ever so slightly. Needless to say she was very keyed up. She was struggling with anyone – it didn’t matter whom – who couldn’t see this topic the way she did. From my view she seemed absolutely CLOSED to anything anyone else had to say.
It was a powerful juxtaposition to my summer – a summer that opened me up to scores of new thinking about women’s transition issues. Continue reading…
Camouflage, transition & summer plans
I hope you all enjoyed a breezy Memorial Day weekend. We caught our neighboring town’s Memorial Day celebration. The gentleman who spoke was from the Navy; pressed whites, well spoken, a selectman. On Memorial Day he challenged us not to mourn but to live. He recounted that our fallen heroes had sacrificed it all to give us that chance. Live.
So, in a quick quiet moment on Memorial Day I Continue reading…
Queen for the Day: a triggering event?
Last weekend a dear friend shared with me a quirky reference to “Queen for the Day.” It got me thinking about my transition. For those unfamiliar with the reference, “Queen for the Day” was a game show in the late 50s and early 60s. Contestants, all women, would compete for the “highest applause meter” rating by sharing the details of financial and emotional hard times. The winner would get a “wish list” item like a swanky new Maytag washer. No Oprah with a ready arm to comfort the participant – just a beautiful new Maytag circa 1950’s. At first, I found this Queenie reference sad but… Continue reading…
Isolation?
My greatest fear in entering a transition was isolation. Now, a few months into this, let me say that I had it all wrong.
I left a full-time role in Spring 2010. My boss often joked in public, “you can work any 60 hours you’d like.” He believed his approach was both enlightened and funny.
In the past year I’ve embarked on a transition to redefine my work-self. I put myself in Bucket #5 in my post “Women’s Transitions: a process…” I have more non-negotiables this time. My work-self has to be integrated into my parenting self. I have children in first grade and kindergarten. It also has to adhere to my idealistic self: I believe everyone can change the world. I thrive on ideas and people…
So here is my 180 on isolation…. Continue reading…
VIEW FROM THE DELI COUNTER: WOMEN & PERFECTION
This post will clearly be grouped in the quirky “observations” from my transition category. But first, heartfelt thanks to all of you for the wonderful outpouring of comments and ideas around this launch. The volume of emails that I’ve received has been enormous. You’ve given me incredible ideas on how to take Novofemina forward. More on that in the weeks ahead. For now, I thought I’d share a chuckle…and an observation. Continue reading…