I am curious about the potential impact on our society’s views on work as a result of the high numbers of recently laid off workers in the last nine months.  Here is a segment of the population that is thrust into a change they may or may not have expected or desired.  In either case an opportunity presents itself for radical change or transformation.  It is likely that each laid off worker will go through a transition to the next chapter of their career.  Transitions can be profoundly significant when they are embraced as something more than a rearranging of the furniture of our lives.  William Bridges in his book Transitions highlights three stages that we journey through.  Here are some brief summaries of each:

Endings: “The end is where we start from,” says T.S. Eliot.. In this phase it’s important to notice what is ending, name the losses, celebrate them, mourn their passing.  In a lay off event the less obvious although not less important loss may lie in a loss of identity or a loss of “certainty” about the future, a loss of what “normal” looks like.

The Neutral Zone:  A time of emptiness, nothing is happening, at least on the surface.  This is the time of the subterranean work, the work of the subconscious and spirit.  It is the mysterious underground preparation of winter before spring.

Beginnings:  “Genuine beginnings depend upon this kind of inner realignment rather than on external shifts, for it is when we are aligned with our deep longings that we become powerfully motivated,” says William Bridges.  The beginnings can happen all at once, or a little bit at a time.  Often we may have begun and only realize it when we are in full swing with our new life.

Each of these phases lasts a certain amount of time, and there’s no prescription on exactly how much time, this varies for each individual.  We westerners don’t like such imprecision around how much time something’s going to take.  And the next lesson is that it is best not to rush each phase—we don’t like that either.  Bridges speaks to our society’s inclination to “just get on with it” and not linger in the uncomfortable states that endings and the neutral zone can produce.  We just want to fast forward from ending to beginning and skip all the messy stuff in the middle.  After all when you cross a busy street, you don’t just stop in the middle of it and have a barbecue—you get to the other side as quickly as possible.   

Interestingly though, as a species we have a lot of early history stored in our DNA of times when transitions were honored as sacred times in an individual’s or a community’s life.  These periods of initiation were often ritualized passages from one phase of life to the next.  And the rituals set up environments most conducive to successful and fruitful transition.  Melissa Gayle West, in her book, Silver Linings, speaks of our ancestors observing an individual’s time in the “wilderness” (her term for the Neutral Zone) as a gift, for the belief was that these sacred times in an individual’s life would then yield creative gifts from which the whole community would benefit.

So what if these recent waves of laid off workers had an opportunity to reinvent themselves and create a way of working that benefits the greater society: that supports sustainable and healthy living, that reverses the impact of climate change, that brings art and music back into schools, just to name a few possible contributions.  What if their time in the wilderness of their own lives brought the greater society gifts that we and our children and grand children would benefit from?

I risk sounding insensitive to the real needs of working families right now.  I risk seeming like one of those “look at the bright side” people.  Bills need to be paid.  Unemployment insurance is not limitless for long stretches of wandering in the wilderness of our transitions.  I realize that there are basic needs to be met, that people are suffering.  Yet, I also believe that as a society, a country, as global citizens, we are crying out for change.  In fact, it’s become almost trite to say it.  But change we wanted and change has come—as our new President proclaimed.  We asked for it.  And now we have a chance to do more than rearrange the deck chairs on the creaky old ship.  We have an opportunity for true transformation and for the foundations of a world that our children dream of, to take root. 

In a way, the lay offs from recently booming business and industries are a reminder to our tribe that our society has entered a deep transition and is traveling through it’s own version of the wilderness.  President Obama quoted then General George Washington’s words in his inaugural address, referring to the “winter of our hardship.”  We are in the winter of this great transition.  We are in the fallow time after which comes Spring.  Whether we like it or not we are in our own sort of wilderness, longing for the next chapter of this world of ours and praying that it will be better.  Our laid off workers are a reminder to us that out of this transition can come great gifts if we see and embrace the opportunity for true transformation from which great invention emerge.

Nobody said change was going to be easy or straightforward or quick—that’s instant coffee.  

I watched the movie, “Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill” a few nights ago.  It is the true story of a San Francisco man, living off of the generosity of his neighbors, searching for meaning and purpose for his life.  He’s a street musician of sorts, although seems to have missed his calling there.  And he ends up becoming an observer of the parrots on Telegraph Hill near his home (a run down cottage that he “borrows” for many years).  His observations turn systematic and he begins to document the behavior of the flock of parrotts and names each of the birds (there are about 45 in all and the flock is growing).  He is attached to the birds, cares for them in a respectful, dignified way–always allowing them their freedom to choose the wild.  There are some poignant scenes towards the end as the audience sees how he communicates with the birds, how he sends his good byes when it’s time for him to leave.  Without intending to show us how one communicates with animals, he shows us how.  Just as without intending to find his life purpose, he does by simply paying attention to his surroundings, becoming curious and engaged with his environment.  He becomes an expert and advocate for the parrots in an urban environment preoccupied with “more pressing” issues.

The story reminds me of how we often work hard to “get it right,” to find our calling, to find our purpose.  And most of the time the answers are in front of us, around us–if only we take the time to notice.