Topic: Inspiration
... a selection of compelling articles found in newspapers, magazines, and online resources that focus on topics of special interest to those 50+.
Who Done It? Here's a Clue for Mystery Fans
Calling all mystery lovers! Find out what it really takes to become a mystery writer! Don't miss the chance to talk books, plots, characters, and inspiration with three mystery writers. Continue ReadingSpecial Writing Workshop for Art Lovers
Calling All Writers! Write About Art with an Authentic Voice Continue ReadingMark your Calendar...It's time to Explore Your Future
The Fabulous 40's
"The 1940s" for a trip down memory lane or a great history lesson on the first decade of boomer births, click here. The pictures advance automatically. Be sure and turn up the sound to catch all the great music too. The 1940s...
Continue ReadingBoomers Get Their Groove Back
How they’re finding new careers, becoming activists and making a difference in their communities.
Bill Kalahurka: 60, Kansas City, MO (picture by Parker Eshelman/Aurora Select)
Occupation: Voice-over actor and fundraising consultant.
Groove: He started with Meals on Wheels and soon began reading books to nursing home residents; he also reads newspapers aloud for recordings for the blind.
Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
To honor Dr. King on January 17, The Johnson County Library System and Shepherd’s Center Central’s Coming of Age/RSVP Johnson County initiative have come together. Informing and educating ourselves, our children and grandchildren is vital to understanding the legacy and passion of this brave man who ultimately lost his life in the struggle. In so doing, we believe that we might also be re-inspired to give more of our time and talents to our friends, neighbors and communities. We are inviting everyone in Johnson County and beyond to join us!
Please see the following list of outstanding books and DVD’s for all ages (click continue reading). Parents and grandparents will enjoy the selected works and those who lived through these turbulent times will personally remember much of what they read and see. In addition, sharing the books and DVD’s created for younger children can be a perfect opportunity to also add one’s personal memories and perspective to the events of that era. Long before the printed word, the oral history was the primary way these priceless stories were passed from one generation to another.
Won't you join us in taking the opportunity to “Borrow a Book or DVD” to help increase knowledge, understanding and awareness of this pivotal time in our history? Sharing one’s own perspective from one’s own life’s experience will make the learning all the more exciting. How about a special book group? How about preparing to truly enjoy the experiences which will be available during Black History Month in February? (see "quilters" link)
Click here www.jocolibrary.org/findagoodbook for details about how to reserve and borrow these special works AND www.comingofage.org/kansascity to learn more about the opportunities through the Johnson County Libraries and Coming of Age/RSVP Johnson County.
JUMP IN!!!
Read more and view the book list from Johnson County Library by clicking on the link:
Continue ReadingExperienced Hands, Still Valued
WATERTOWN, Mass.
IN 1999, Diane Hessan, a longtime marketing executive, secured venture capital for a tech start-up that turned out to be a bad idea.
Her new company developed software that enabled corporate clients like Chase Manhattan to set up internal, online communities connecting, for example, Chase’s human resources workers in offices all over the world.
“We thought the Chase people would use it to share information, talk to each other, develop best practices,” Ms. Hessan recalled. They didn’t. “At the end of one week, 7 people at Chase had used it,” she said. “At the end of two, 14.”
Another client, Tom Brailsford, a market research director for Hallmark, said he doubted his Gold Crown store managers would use it, either, and Ms. Hessan had one of those moments that transforms a life. Instead of bluffing, she said: “I’m worried, too.” Click Continue Reading to view the full article.
Continue ReadingVolunteering can be powerful 'medicine'
And, for the more than 1 million Americans with the chronic condition rheumatoid arthritis (RA), volunteering may help them better manage the disease. RA is an autoimmune disease that affects the joints and can cause pain, disability and leave people feeling limited or isolated by their disease. Women are two to three times more likely to have RA than men, and the disease is most commonly diagnosed between the ages of 30 and 50.
A new nationwide initiative - Hand in Hand for RA - aims to change that by demonstrating to people living with RA that they can do more. In fact, results of a recent survey showed that a majority of people with RA want to be more active and not feel limited by their condition. Moreover, four in 10 want to give back through volunteering or public service to prove they are not limited by their RA.
"It's the first time that we are bringing together people living with a form of arthritis like RA who would otherwise be held back a little bit by their condition, and give them an opportunity to help out in their community," says Seth Ginsberg, co-founder and president of CreakyJoints, a grassroots arthritis group and a supporter of the Hand in Hand for RA campaign. "We want people to go to the handinhandforRA.com Web site where they can find resources or share their stories of things they've done in the past, and help out a little bit." Click Continue Reading to view the full article. Continue Reading
Ellen Goodman 'Lets Herself Go' Into Her Encore Career
by Terry Nagel
On the first day of 2010, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Ellen Goodman launched her encore career in her final column for The Washington Post by declaring, “I’m letting myself go.”
She put a positive spin on the phase, explaining, “After all, where will you go when you let yourself go? To let this question fill the free space between deadlines in my life has been quite liberating. It suggests the freedom that can fuel this journey.” Click Continue Reading to view the full article.
Continue ReadingAce That Interview: How to Land a Job After 50
By Joe Turner
“I was fully qualified and it makes no sense” is the most common complaint. “They simply don’t know how to hire” is another one. Or, “They told me that I was overqualified.”
Randy Block, a seasoned career transition coach and consultant in the San Francisco Bay Area, often hears comments like these. He knows that the ultra-competitive job search process in today’s economy is especially hard for experienced individuals seeking encore careers. He advises them to think and act differently during interviews in order to succeed.
Block says that one challenge boomers face is the gap between their generation and the Gen-X hiring managers of today. He notes, “Thirty-somethings don’t want to hire their parents.” Unfortunately, that’s how boomers often come across – as their parents.
Here are four tips he offers boomers during job interviews:
Show passion for your work. If you’re mission-driven at this stage of your career, it should be easy to demonstrate your interest. As Block notes, relationships are based on shared values. He believes that shared values make up most of what we call chemistry. Chemistry is enhanced when we meet others who have a shared or common interest.
If you consider yourself committed to what you do for a living, you’ll most likely cross paths with a hiring manager who has a shared interest in the same area. It may be a new area for you as you undergo a possible career change. You may have the opportunity to take your transferable skills and put them to use in some new ways. If you’re genuinely excited about your possibilities, your excitement can be contagious, especially during your interview. Click Continue Reading to view the full article.
Continue Reading