October 10: Who Are we

Transitions and resources

Mid-life changes

Reclaim opposite-sex qualities

Males adopt more female and female adopt male characteristics

Awareness of life as “half-finished”

Myth of “mid-life crisis”: rare

65+: Reflection on accomplishments/regrets

65+: Reflection on the larger meaning of life

Sharing transitions

What were some key transitions or turning points in your life?

What were the processes of “letting go” and experimentation that led to your “moving on”?

What resources or support did you draw on to engage in this transition?

“3 Cs RESOURCES”

"What one does--skills, vocations, roles (competencies)

Where one is from--locations, beliefs, groups (communities)

Who one is with--personal relationships (commitments)"

COMPETENCIES

The ability to competently employ different activities

Being known as being good at doing certain things

Being know as being an “effective organizer”

What are you good at doing?

How does that define your identity?

How are you perceived as a resource?

COMMUNITIES/PLACES

Memberships in communities, groups, or organizations

“Who I am or what I make out my identity to be (to myself and others) at a certain moment (which can be relatively transient or lengthened) seems to be always situated in a consideration of where I am speaking from and to whom.” (Angel Lin, 2008).

What are those communities, groups, or organizations in which you are a member?

How does this membership define your identity?

Place

Allegiance to a place/space as a resource

Member of a neighborhood

Resource: Knowledge about a place/space

What are some places/spaces with which you’re aligned?

What resources to you gain from these alignments?

How do these alignments shape your identities?

Commitments: Relationships

RRelationships

Relationships can provide support and resources

Identities within relationships: “Parent,” “friend”

Different kinds of relationships

Parent with one child versus another child

Differences in commitment to relationships

How did your relationships support you in transitions?

History in persons

What were some key historical events in your life?

How were your affected by those events?

How have different generations been influenced by these events?

Fact of living through the 1960s

Attitudes toward government

17th: Workplace

Different versions of self:

Workplace

Family

Community/civic

Leisure/hobbies/recreation: painting, travel, etc.

Workplace identitIes

What kinds of work (job/home/community) did you do?

How did this work change over time?

What activities were you good at doing?

How did you become known for your competency?

How did you juggle competing demands between job, home, community, leisure activities?

Workplace identities

Friedman, “New Rules”Technology and globalization are wiping out lower-skilled jobs faster, while steadily raising the skill level required for new jobs. More than ever now, lifelong learning is the key to getting into, and staying in, the middle class.

Mike Rose: “The Working Life of a Waitress” (handout)/ “The Intelligence of the Waitress in Motion” (online and handout)

“The waitress gets very good at ‘working smart.’ My mother would sequence and group tasks.”