Weekly 5 Outtakes October 13, 2017
So, hello again, Zoomers. My apologies for the hiatus in posting my Outtakes for the latest week in my latest 90-Day Adventure. I was on an unexpected sabbatical of a whirlwind kind following the passing of my only child, Mary Boleyn. The lessons experienced from such an event for a baby boomer have been profound and life-changing. As I have often said, if you want to change your life, you must change your life. As regularly happens, we don’t get to choose the time and place of high impact life events. We do have a choice, however, in how we will respond to those events.
Many topics passed through my awareness as I attempted to stay in the moment for the events as they unfolded surrounding my daughter’s transition from, and celebration of, this life. I will expound on the observations over time with you as important turning points that have become part of the fabric of my life story and legacy.
And, now, back to the Weekly 5 Outtakes. If you enjoy reading these, please like and share boomertozoomer.com and tag someone who would enjoy reading.
What I am reading
Wicked Problems Workable Solutions – Lessons from a Public Life – by: Daniel Yankelovich
From the dedication: “I dedicate this book to the thinkers who kept my interest in philosophy alive long after I had grown disillusioned with logic as a way of discovering the truths of living.”
Mr. Yankelovich speaks to me when he reiterates that our experiences are beyond the physical dimensions of Aristotelian and Newtonian frameworks. “It is no accident that we humans are most comfortable with storytelling. The story of our lives is a series of answers to the question: “And then what happened?”
What Else I am reading
On Death & Dying – What the Dying Have to Teach Doctors, Nurses, Clergy and Their Own Families – by: Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
I read this when I started working at a hospital as a teenager thinking it would help me develop better bed-side-manner. I decided to revisit the updated version following the passing of my only child in July 2017. I am no longer amazed lessons learned still require refreshing and updating. Not only can grieving be repeated for the same event, it can be triggered for so many components of the past that demand we stop and acknowledge that they are human events, which fail to follow a predictable unfaltering sequence.
App I am loving
Recording my thoughts in a useful manner for transcription. I am constantly coming up with ideas that need follow up. I discovered a voice recording on Google Docs that allows me to record quick thoughts directly into text that I can later transcribe to files and label for further research. This saves me hours of time and reduces losing thought threads of great ideas.
Fiverr Gig I am loving
I use Fiverr for many services that I sub-contract out. I have found Fiverr the best service for transcription, logo creation, and character creation artists. This was a personal character creation that I really liked. Check out all the Gig producers and have fun.
Best Flipboard Article
Boomers: What’s Your American Dream Story? Discover the disparaging differences between the early and late baby boomers. Take a quiz and let me know what opportunity or inequality describes your life adventure.
What I am working on
Working with young adults this week gave me hope that the future will have bright minds to overcome the challenges of our planet’s stewardship. I had the distinct opportunity to share with high school students some of the soft skills that I feel are important in developing before applying for their first job. The number one soft skill should be to learn how to set goals. Unfortunately, these skills are not being taught in our school systems. I asked how many students had been asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”. The response was 100%. I then asked how many have been asked, “What do you want your life to look like when you grow up?”. The response was zero. As my mom said, the emphasis is on the wrong syllable. Visit: boomertozoomer.com for more details on goal setting for young adult job seekers.