The Search for Meaningful Work

OK, so I've taken the leap. A blog! A way to merchandise misfortune. Or, is it fortune in which I find myself, at 54 years old, self-unemployed, questioning, looking, managing rejection? It's been frustrating for this baby boomer, who's spent most of his career inventing and reinventing himself, taking risks and generally being successful in each of my endeavors. I can't remember the last time I've been in this situation, without any employment, self or otherwise. Been managing my own media relations, consulting business and teaching since 1998. It's been very successful for the most part, though things went south a bit after 911. Managed to have an apt. in NYC, a house in the country, car, dog, to eat well, live well. Along with this fortune has come a degree of loneliness, isolation and dissatisfaction. Am I a malcontent or do I have a legitimate crisis? Not my first one either. Had one back in 1994 after working as a freelance writer/photographer for 13 years. Went back to school, Harvard Divinity School, to explore a career in pastoral counseling, social justice -- wasn't quite sure where I was heading with it. Had I continued the three-year program, I would have gone back the second year to work in in-home hospice in Boston. Went back to NYC that summer after the first year to freelance in PR (more lucrative than taking the $10 per hour job as a gardener in the Center for World Religions), though that might have been the more heart-felt choice to make at the time. I don't regret the choice, but realize that chasing the $, has sometimes lead to less satisfactory situations, when following a deeper desire to connect with people in a more authentic way might have been the call at the time. The money, however, has enabled a lifestyle that also has brought a measure of satisfaction. Where's the balance?

I'm excited about having created this blog, at the urging/recommendation of a friend, whose wise counsel and intelligence I appreciate. It's part of my intent to redefine myself and find a work/life solution that will allow me to live in abundance with engagement, stimulation, compensation, satisfaction, integrity and meaning. Not asking for too much, am I? If nothing else, it may begin to provide the outline/direction for that book that I've thought about writing for decades now. And for now, I might even have some readers to provide the feedback, comment and insight that could make it a volume that might help others who find themselves in this same dilemma. That's all for now.