the word-girl seeking new work oppor-
tunities. I have been getting so many
calls and emails and FB posts with mes-
sages of love and support and encour-
agement and job leads. Last night dear
friends from Australia and Canada
called. This morning I slept in because I
could! I've already made lists of things
to do. All will be well. Thanks for your
prayers.
job involuntarily is enough penance this
Lent! LOL. My new "penance": (1) do
one thing daily that has immediate pleas-
ant results, (2) pray for and be present to
my 15 colleagues who also were laid off,
and (3) celebrate the beauty around me.
globe are sending job leads. Even my
accountant is networking for me. She
offered to broker my résumé with her
fellow accountants and will ask them to
target their clients with my résumé. My
day began with a phone call from my fav
author. Last night I created a new
résumé and sent it to 10 of my best
friends in various fields and asked them
for their suggestions for improvement.
They are responding with expert ideas.
search efforts and keep me organized,
and I spoke with an expert in the educa-
tion field about a great opportunity. My
colleagues are sending me excellent
ideas for sharpening my résumé. I'll end
today by ushering at Cincinnati's
Playhouse in the Park for a Stephen
Sondheim musical -- my Lenten
penance to bring beauty to my life each
day. What greater beauty is there than
Sondheim?
this morning. All good qualities to have
when facing the task of cleaning out
one's office after 23 years. My strong-
like-a-rock hubby, Bob, accompanied me
to my now-former workplace office and
helped pack and load. Thirty boxes later
we drove home in our pickup truck and
car filled to the brim. Our basement is
now home to the relics of my quarter-of-
a-century publishing career.
was SBU's men's basket-
going to church. I got so much out of
Mass today that I could hardly carry it all
out the heavy wooden church doors. It
pastoral ministers have always said --
that we have to bring something to
Mass in order to get something out of
it. Today I brought my heartache, my
disappointment, my anger, and my fear.
I left with hope and love and energy to
get through another day.
Today, I and 8 former coworkers
workshop -- a perk of severance. I
drove to the HR center that hosted the
workshop and wondered while waiting
in early-morning rush hour traffic if I
would learn anything.
topics that would help us begin and
organize a successful job search. This old
dog with some new tricks is mighty
grateful today.
God blessed the eighth day and made it
holy, because on it she rested from all
the work of job hunting that she had
done."
into -- and stayed -- in my life. Today
is one of those days when I thank God
for the blessing of friendship. At day's
end, I bless all my friends who walk
with me during this challenging time.
no longer have a job that you loved for 23 years? In March 2012, J/MC alumna
Lisa Biedenbach, '76, lost her job as product development director for a reli-
gious media publisher. To deal with her feelings about and the realities of being
unemployed, she turned to social media to chronicle her experience of discerning
the next chapter in her career. What follows are excerpts from her Facebook posts
about "Reinventing Lisa." In July, the reinvented Lisa established her own busi-
ness, LAMB Editorial Consulting, to provide a variety of services to publishers.