Over time, regular readers of this blog will discover that my faith is important to me. Part of the reason I didn’t have much trouble deciding to accept a newspaper buyout was my trust that God has something planned for me. Jeremiah 29:11 says:
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for well-being and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.”
At Thanksgiving, I urge you to find the blessing in any situation. I’m into the 11th week of my post-newspaper life, and there are many blessings surrounding this life change. The first involved timing. I learned about the impending changes at the newspaper through a voice mail on the last day of our California vacation this summer. If I’d heard that news sooner, it might not have ruined our family vacation, but certainly would have lessened our enjoyment. Other blessings: In concrete terms, I’ve saved a lot of money on gas by eliminating my commute (this saving was really noticeable when gas topped $4 a gallon). I’ve been able to spend more time with my wife and two teenage sons. I’ve also been able to reconnect with old friends and made a few trips while attempting to help a friend’s business venture. On the last trip, I was able to visit family in New Jersey as well. I’ve been able to exercise more, which would help me shed some excess pounds if only the refrigerator weren’t so accessible.
There’s a hymn that goes
Count your blessings
Name them one by one
Count your many blessings
See what God has done
Try that and it will open your eyes. Happy Thanksgiving!
For someone whose whole professional life – more than 32 years — has been wrapped up in newspapers, the outside is a strange place to be. Having “ink in your veins” used to be a compliment for a veteran journalist, but now it’s just as likely to represent someone in need of a transfusion.
Well, that’s what I’m all about. My recent departure, through buyout, from a newspaper I had called my home for nearly 19 years has necessitated this change. I think most journalists would acknowledge that the best days of newspapers in their print form are in the past. Newspapers are still trying to figure out the best ways to make money in the online world. As the Internet has taken off, many journalism careers (and not just in the newsroom) have landed. Some have crashed and burned.
The challenge? Reinvent myself. I don’t want to be the human equivalent of 8-track tapes. I don’t want to be obsolete. At 54, I have a lot of creative juices still eager to flow.
I am starting this blog not only as an outlet for some of those creative juices, but also because I know there are many others in career limbo who are attempting to find a place to grab on in the new job market. For those of you in that group, I hope I can give you a little inspiration, a little background about my journalistic life, and maybe make you laugh occasionally.
Kevin Braun
One thing I quickly learned is that searching for a job is nothing like what it was the last time I did it, in 1989. When colleagues and friends found I was leaving my newspaper job, the first question inevitably was, “What are you gonna do?” I hated to give the answer “I have no idea,” although that would probably have been the most accurate. I did actually have some ideas, but nothing concrete, and I looked forward with some trepidation to the new chapter.
I accepted the newspaper’s buyout because I considered it the best option for myself personally and professionally, and for my family. The buyout was a generous offer, but I felt as if I was at a buffet full of food choices that I really didn’t like (hard to imagine, for anyone who’s seen me). I had to eat something, but nothing had my tastebuds panting.
I went to a career counseling workshop shortly after I left my job, and our class learned that people who experience job loss go through stages similar to the grief cycle as outlined by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross. They were proposed in roller-coaster form, which I quickly discovered is accurate. A job seeker’s mood and outlook can change with just a morsel of hope, perhaps something as simple as an e-mail response that isn’t automated.
