LTC Columns

A recruiter friend (not so much) of mine contacted me and strongly suggested that the experiences I’ve shared and columns I’ve written for Leaping the Chasm have hindered my own search for a regular income. This recruiter believes that outing myself as an over-50 woman who’s been forced to navigate long-term unemployment paints me as a poor job candidate.

I beg to differ.

If anything, my ability to survive long-term unemployment makes me an intriguing candidate. I’m resilient, clever, determined, open and more than ready for whatever comes next. (Not to

To those of you that have kept close tabs on Leaping the Chasm (LTC), it will come as no surprise that we’ve taken a longer-than-expected break from posting content and have been quiet on social media. I’d like to tell you that there was a strategic reason for LTC’s absence, but there wasn’t. It was completely unplanned and totally the result of the tough life transitions that I’ve been going through.

For those that know me, hearing that I’d been without a traditional income for longer than it takes to age

The tough life transitions that women in their 40’s, 50’s and beyond navigate can often be the result of age-related job loss compounded by simultaneously occurring transitions like caretaking, menopause and financial distress. Being hit by multiple life transitions can be devastating and damage or ruin a woman’s quality of life for the rest of her life.

Younger generations may not notice and often don’t realize that soon those same life transitions will be theirs to navigate. Generational differences don’t apply… it happens to this age group over and over

Imagine losing your job, perhaps your entire career, after working years to achieve your professional goals. Then imagine being told that your dismissal is due to some empty reason such as “we’re taking the company in a different direction.” After which, the only direction the company has taken is dismissing its older workers. “Dismissed without cause.” It happens all the time and too frequently to women approaching or over 50.

Consider this
In 2016, we reported stats for women of an assured age that were eye-opening. In particular, a 7.3 percent unemployment

Women in their 40’s, 50’s and beyond need friends and family. Researchers agree that women especially thrive in mid-life and retirement when they have close friends and supportive family to rely on. But what happens when we’re distracted by tough life transitions and a toxic friendship or family relationship seeps into our life?

I know from my own experience how subtly this happens. It may begin with a kind gesture, a declaration of love, or thoughtful assist with something difficult, but when “caring” turns to interference, manipulation and lies that create

The significant transitions that women in their 40’s, 50’s and beyond experience can be tough on those closest to us. If you’re like me and have had multiple life transitions hit you all at once, it takes a special breed of friend to be there for us. To never falter. To make contact when we don’t. To genuinely care about how we’re doing “today” every day, week, month or year.

What makes a friendship?
In Adam Liebendorfer’s column, Just Between Friends, he shares Bill Rawlins’ five criteria that define friendship. “Friendship needs

Like many women in their 40’s, 50’s and beyond, I am striving to remake my life. It’s been a stressful time, but I endeavor to endure even when endurance isn’t easy. Every day I wake and seek the positive, yet I’m saddened by the hate, discontent, rhetoric and violence of our current global climate pinging away on all of my devices.

Under peaceful circumstances, my own problems might seem insurmountable. Not so in these conditions. My dismantled life seems like the only thing I can put back together given enough

Women approaching or over 50 can sometimes struggle with challenge. However, facing challenge and achieving growth are often the only ways we overcome the unavoidable transitions in our lives.

Challenge has been a prevailing theme in my life, not just during times of transition. So much so, in fact, that it’s nearly a reflex for me to face challenge determined to conquer it. These days, though, I’m experiencing extreme life transitions in rapid fire succession and there’s nothing to do but endure.

I know that it only takes a few

Have you ever found yourself overwhelmed by multiple life transitions and wondered how it happened? Many women in their 40’s, 50’s and beyond experience exactly that. While they are busy building their careers, raising their families, pursuing social and marital obligations, forces are often at work that bring personal struggle and life changing experiences.

Many of these women (who have been all things to all people all their lives) will look for answers on their own in an effort to maintain their ordinarily stalwart persona. However, when multiple and major

Facing a new year can be tough when you’re a women of an assured age going through one or more life transitions. I know this because I’m hip deep in life transitions and I’m sliding too rapidly into a new year. Taken all at once, it’s overwhelming and sometimes panic-inducing. I don’t think I’m wrong to speculate that I am not the only woman approaching or over 50 who is in this position.

This has been a year of upheaval for me. If the previous new year held any promise, none

A very recent and lengthy illness reminded me that being a women in my 50’s means facing yet another decade of sidelong glances and hurtful whispers of “faking it” because I don’t “look sick.” It’s true that I don’t have some severe disfigurement or obvious physical challenge, but I do have more than my share of enervating illness.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. I’m just stymied by the unconscious, or implicit, biases of the people around me when overcoming illness becomes a priority for me.

If you’re a woman approaching or over 50 and find yourself among the long-term unemployed, what are you doing to fill your time while you seek work?

• Act like nothing has happened… deny, deny, deny
• Watch more than your fair share of Netflix
• Sleep 14 hours every night, day, whatever… and take naps
• Find out what it’s like to skip a shower or two
• Gain weight… pretend you’re losing
• Run out of bras as the laundry piles up
• Run out of silverware as the dishes pile up
• Draw a face

Imagine being a woman in your 40’s, 50’s or beyond and unexpectedly, often without good reason, losing your income after years of working toward your professional and financial goals.

If you are one of the thousands of women approaching or over 50 in the United States who have suddenly lost their income, one available source of money may be unemployment compensation. Your (former) employer has already paid into unemployment insurance and, if circumstances qualify, this is the time to collect.

Many women don’t take the time to file for their unemployment

Many of the transitions that women approaching or beyond age 50 will experience can have a direct impact on their finances. And those women experiencing multiple life transitions can sometimes see their financial stability attacked from several different directions. If you are one of these women, then you may have already learned what this can do to your economic independence.

I certainly have! You may have read in one of my previous columns that I am currently without a regular income and I’m working through my own multiple transitions. As shifts began

“Those who are free of resentful thoughts surely find peace.” -Buddha

Every once in a while I find myself spouting righteous indignation into thin air. I imagine the object of my ire is standing before me where I can clearly and forcefully speak my piece. I allow myself these moments, then I turn my attention back to getting on with my life. I have found peace in being able to quickly and privately vent when embittered feelings arise. However, I do not allow myself to dwell on these feelings lest I