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But we are proud to say that Karen Litzinger contributed 96 entries already.
When I started reading author Anne Lamott’s 2003 Commencement speech that made its way to my Facebook feed this month, I couldn’t stop. Besides being thoroughly entertaining, I thought: what a fun and wise career counselor she would make! I try to balance dreams and reality in my career counseling work, and like that she […]
The incredible concert I recently attended by Ladysmith Black Mambazo sparked the inspiration for this month’s newsletter. Whether you’re facing challenges at work, navigating a job search, dealing with personal struggles, or feeling the weight of world events, it’s easy to become overwhelmed. One of their songs, “Tough Times Never Last, But Strong People Do,” […]
Below is an excerpt from my book to help people cope with the emotional roller coaster of the job search. Please share this and the link to complimentary excerpts which is after the reading. A great graduation gift of support! “It really is an endurance race.” -Henry Ford A job search can take longer than […]
Thanksgiving weekend got me thinking about the balance of joys and sorrows that we experience. It is a great joy to take my sister-in-law annually to State College, PA for a Thanksgiving visit with her son (my nephew) and family. This year they decorated for Christmas early, and I was captivated by the dozens of […]
This autumn has caused me to reflect about the natural cycle of endings and beginnings. Around the time a close friend died, my neighbor had her baby and I attended my granddaughter‘s baby shower. What endings and beginnings are you experiencing? What are those that simply happened and those that you can or did create? […]
As I am in the midst of a very long-overdue bathroom renovation with dozens of decisions, I have renewed empathy for my career counseling clients. It doesn’t help that I’m a Libra; we are known for indecision. This has been an agonizing process for me. After narrowing down paint choices and going in for three […]
I had the joy this month of attending a concert by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. It’s a national tour that celebrates his 90th birthday and the 60th anniversary of the 1965 #1 hit album Whipped Cream. What I thought I wanted to write about was his sharing that when his 98-year-old sister asked […]
Sue seems ageless to me. She’s been my administrative assistant two days a month for 15 years now. At first, I thought Sue mostly wanted my very part-time work as a retirement income supplement. Then a couple years in, I learned that she found the work meaningful, helping me help people, a part of my […]
Whether chaos of career or country, it can signify a state before creation where something entirely new and yet unknown has the potential to emerge. I’ve seen the chaos of COVID-19 cause people to re-examine values and make big time career changes. My hope is that the chaos of the country will cause kindness, compassion […]
“Uncertainty is the only certainty there is, and knowing how to live with insecurity is the only security.” John Allen Paulos So many unknowns can create negative emotions during your job search, such as waiting to hear back on an email or after an interview. There will be unexpected questions during an interview for which […]
My heart has been broken by the dismantling of the progress our country has made following our country’s second original sin of capturing and enslaving Africans (the first being genocide of the indigenous original inhabitants of this land). President Trump “officially recognized” Black History Month just a couple weeks after signing executive orders in his […]
The last few years, I’ve started a tradition of watching a film during Black History month that educates, inspires and often challenges me about our country’s racial history. I have been moved beyond words by the fabulous films, Eyes on the Prize (about Martin Luther King) and Good Trouble (about Congressman John Lewis). Last weekend […]
You’ve probably been asked the question at some point: What public figure do you most admire? Though there are so many admirable choices over centuries, I always came back to contemporaries, Fred Rogers and Jimmy Carter. On the one month marking of President Carter’s death, I want to share some tidbits that struck me as […]
Like in the movie, It’s a Wonderful Life,” we often don’t know the impact of our presence. This could be with work, family or friends. Sometimes it’s just small and special. I missed seeing Christine’s smiling face at the Residence Inn this Thanksgiving morning. She greeted us multiple times during our annual visit to State […]
I chose to celebrate my 65th birthday last month on a private retreat with my 23 year church group at the Benedictine Sisters of Erie Monastery. You may have heard of them in the news lately with the fraudulent claim that no one lives there. Besides such a meaningful retreat reflecting on my “next chapter,” […]