Beata is trying a new work schedule for one month. Basically she piles up more hours working Monday through Thursday so that she can stay home Friday to work from her home laptop in the morning. Her career has been on shaky ground for about a year now. In 2006 she was being haled as the best rookie reporter in the state of Michigan and today we have resided to being gracious that she still has a job despite a huge pay cut. I use the term gracious loosely since on some days we are scratching our heads trying to figure out how she can use her skills and passion to find a better job. New management and a less-than-congenial boss have made things more challenging. (Since this is a private blog I guess I can write these things.)
And with Kavaun in the picture all of these life events take on new meaning. In many ways Kavaun has been our constant source of happiness and joy. I grew up with my mom working long hours, and thankfully she enjoyed her work for most of my childhood. Her struggles and stresses were a bit different though. Money was always tight even and my mom was doing it on her own. And she had two little ones demanding her energy. I subconsciously made the choice long ago that I would do everything in my power not to allow financial stress and my own frustration get the best of me as an adult. Beata sometimes acts
surprised at how even tempered my reaction is to certain things. I remind her that it is much easier for me to stay calm because I married her. Beata is an excellent saver and a planner who also appreciates that I have an even-keel approach to most things most of the time. Going it alone, I am not sure I would be able to keep things nice and level though. And I understand that staying balanced will get challenged in ways I am unaware of now.
Back to Beata and where we are now. She was advancing in her career at breakneck speed, but now she is having everything put on hold while journalism redefines itself. Beata and her colleagues are left trying to figure out where they fit in this new journalism world. It seems breaking news is more important than complete news coverage. Great writing and reporting is taking a backseat to constant feeds and updates. The Twitter world assumes just about anyone can be the gate-keeper of news which brings down the incomes for those trained to be journalists. I feel bad for Beata because she has worked so hard to be good in her field and suddenly the rules of the game are changing. I really believe that one day we will look back and be able to say that because of these changes, we made some tough choices that took us on a fulfilling path. Whether that means more education for Beata, a career change, taking a chance on a dream like becoming a children's author or something, who knows?
In our age group we are sandwiched between an older generation that valued stability and longevity in one job for 20-30 years and on the other end, young workers who will have 7-12 jobs in that time span. I guess we better embrace change.
Kavaun has given us a different perspective I think. Rather than hit the panic button (I am afraid many families are forced into hitting the panic button in this economy), we feel lucky that we have him in our lives to remind us that our careers deserve their own compartment and family time is for family. I guess we can do that much easier with an income, savings and the support we get from our families. We are grateful for all of those things.
- N
Note to self: Kavaun's giggles need to make it into the next post.
And with Kavaun in the picture all of these life events take on new meaning. In many ways Kavaun has been our constant source of happiness and joy. I grew up with my mom working long hours, and thankfully she enjoyed her work for most of my childhood. Her struggles and stresses were a bit different though. Money was always tight even and my mom was doing it on her own. And she had two little ones demanding her energy. I subconsciously made the choice long ago that I would do everything in my power not to allow financial stress and my own frustration get the best of me as an adult. Beata sometimes acts
surprised at how even tempered my reaction is to certain things. I remind her that it is much easier for me to stay calm because I married her. Beata is an excellent saver and a planner who also appreciates that I have an even-keel approach to most things most of the time. Going it alone, I am not sure I would be able to keep things nice and level though. And I understand that staying balanced will get challenged in ways I am unaware of now.Back to Beata and where we are now. She was advancing in her career at breakneck speed, but now she is having everything put on hold while journalism redefines itself. Beata and her colleagues are left trying to figure out where they fit in this new journalism world. It seems breaking news is more important than complete news coverage. Great writing and reporting is taking a backseat to constant feeds and updates. The Twitter world assumes just about anyone can be the gate-keeper of news which brings down the incomes for those trained to be journalists. I feel bad for Beata because she has worked so hard to be good in her field and suddenly the rules of the game are changing. I really believe that one day we will look back and be able to say that because of these changes, we made some tough choices that took us on a fulfilling path. Whether that means more education for Beata, a career change, taking a chance on a dream like becoming a children's author or something, who knows?
In our age group we are sandwiched between an older generation that valued stability and longevity in one job for 20-30 years and on the other end, young workers who will have 7-12 jobs in that time span. I guess we better embrace change.
Kavaun has given us a different perspective I think. Rather than hit the panic button (I am afraid many families are forced into hitting the panic button in this economy), we feel lucky that we have him in our lives to remind us that our careers deserve their own compartment and family time is for family. I guess we can do that much easier with an income, savings and the support we get from our families. We are grateful for all of those things.
- N
Note to self: Kavaun's giggles need to make it into the next post.
I think you're onto something in the "writing children's books" comment - Beata would be an incredible author. In your vast network you must know someone who knows someone....in the publishing business who could guide you. Has Beata ever thought about writing a column - something that might be published in other papers? I know you two will make the best of this situation and come out on the other side with something incredible - something that wouldn't have been possible under any other circumstances! I can see a column turning into a book turning into a movie - think "Marley and Me" and "The Soloist" :-)
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