However, it was the board member that stopped me in my tracks. She described (mostly, sadly) female friends who were self-proclaimed “bored” and wanting to find something to do with their time. “Just go get a job..I tell them,” she said dismissively, with a shrug of her shoulders and a wave of her hand. “This isn’t that hard,” she stated. “Figure out what you want to do with yourself, and just do it.”

What?! Does she not know what it is like out there?

I could not believe the cavalier attitude, the almost “let them eat cake” approach. The federal government is going on almost a month of being shut down, senior executives are getting reduced from both technology companies and nonprofits, graduating college students are not able to find a job due to AI automating what is left of the old jobs that they used to be funneled into, and people are having a hard time paying their bills. LinkedIn is littered with jobseekers telling their stories about being ghosted in interviews and never landing that next job. People are worried and scared and looking for a way to improve their lot in life. They wish they could “just go get a job.”

“It is actually harder out there than you think, “ I said to her, and she looked at me blankly. “People can’t just go out and get a job. They are trying. The old ways of finding a job aren’t working, AI is making it harder to connect with actual humans, and anyone who isn’t generation Alpha needs training and experience on how to reinvent themselves in the new world working order.” She looked at me like I was from another planet. And then I saw any desire to understand dim from her face, and she turned to the woman sitting next to her and began a new thread of conversation. Conversation over. Ghosted in real time.

I was frustrated. Here was my moment to help people understand. To teach, to support, the have them provide counsel, to provide perspective. But for many, I think, this is too real, it feels too overwhelming, they don’t understand all the moving pieces, and they don’t want to tackle the enormous obstacles in their way to help kickstart change. Or, they are so removed from the problem that they are disinterested and incurious about the struggles that others are experiencing. It was truly a raw and heartbreaking moment of what is reality in our lives now.

I want more for us. I want jobs to be plentiful and the economy to be strong. I want people to find their way to understanding how to get skills if they want (or need) to pivot and reinvent. I want those that have to help those that do not have.

So I decided, walking to my car after that event, that this would be the platform by which I will start to do this. I will use LeadReinventGrow as a place to synthesize and share resources, offer community options to collaborate with each other, educate on the current state of leadership and the workplace, and inspire you to be equipped to “just go get a job” with a clear path to doing so.

Tell me what else you need, and we will make it happen.

#wecandohardthings #youarenotalone

I did what I usually do in these kinds of situations. I procrastinate with another task while I let it marinate in my subconscious. It pops up again and again in places where my brain is quiet and doing its own processing - walking the dog, taking a shower, loading the dishwasher, making the bed - the mundane tasks of life, but they are exactly the places I do my best thinking. It took me a long time to understand what was happening there, though. Calm, quiet, classical music - these are the building blocks of creativity for me. And, what I assume all writers know, it only comes when it is ready. The flow happens when your subconscious has something to say and is ready to let it out.

This is how I landed on the concept of meta - how best to write about curiosity and where thinking and learning comes together to do exactly that. Write about the process. Write what results from what the subconscious pieces together. Write about the thinking, the research, the asking of questions, the stumbling blocks, the stops and starts, the frustration, and the understanding that every obstacle is a place to learn from. A new place to learn and grow.

Hence - CultivateEd: Curious was born. Here is where I’ll share my thinking and observing of life - my flow, my thoughts, all with the hope that we’ll learn and grow together. Being inquisitive and reflective is an optimistic way to live your life, and it can bring you much joy - if you allow it. There’s so much to question in today’s life - let’s ask about it, reflect on it, learn on it, and join the journey of living a curious life - together.

Would you look at that? I just wrote my first post. All those years of waiting for the perfect words to come out. And here they are. I’m feeling a little nostalgic. And proud.

Welcome. I look forward to thinking and learning with you.