We are all born with a great dream for our lives, a dream that may have been derailed along the way by family, career responsibilities or submerged by our own choices. In the second half of life, after your roots have gone deeply into the world, it is time to resurrect the dream.
– Angeles Arrien, cultural anthropologist, author and educator
In June 2005, I walked out of a midtown Manhattan office building and into the rest of my life. After a 24-year banking career, I had negotiated an early retirement and was “leaving to pursue new interests†according to the announcement. I intended to feel liberated, energized, hopeful about the future. Instead I felt listless, confused, even paralyzed.
Friends and family tried to help. They would ask “What will you do with all your free time?”… “What are your interests?”… “What are your passions?” Not only did I have no answers, I wasn’t even sure I understood the questions.
Now it is two years later. Cliché or not, it HAS been quite a journey. I feel a creative energy brewing and have found at least one passion: Giving voice – my voice – to this rich phenomenon we call mid-life transition and helping other women find their own voices as well.
So welcome to “What’s Next?†– a forum for offering resources, ideas and perspectives as you explore transitioning your life. As we launch, consider this:
Observation 1: Individual change IS good. We’re capable of it; we crave it. But, it’s also hard. Having assumed prescribed roles for much of our adult lives (including yours truly), change can feel radical and disorienting. And that’s OK – both the confusing, frightening part, and certainly the empowering rush when it actually arrives > that energizing breakthrough to a new behavior, a new attitude, a new interest.
Observation 2: Women can do a better job being there for one another. “What’s Next?” provides an opportunity for us to experiment with becoming a stronger community — even a virtual one — supporting and sharing resources with each other. I will try to keep it real as a means to encourage you to comment with your specific experiences, resources, and inspirations, too — anonymously or otherwise — so genuine thanks in advance!
Cindy
Contact Cindy via cindy@snoety.com
xxx
