College Over Troubled Water

When I moved down here to the Bay Area, and accepted a new “permanent” position as an academic dean at the College of Marin, I vowed to not use my work life as fodder for blog material. I just don’t want or need the kind of scrutiny that that kind of reporting might bring.

Not that my day job isn’t worthy of some commentary. Au contraire. For now, though, I’ll continue to leave it to other folks to describe my current workplace…

From the February 22 edition of the Pacific Sun (Marin County’s weekly alternative newspaper), you can read this cover-story article: “COMbustible: This Semester, College of Marin is Offering Courses in Resentment, Accusation and Infighting.”

And from the front page of today’s Marin Independent Journal (Marin County’s daily newspaper), we learn about: “College of Marin in Crisis.”

Soundtrack Suggestion

When you’re down and out,
When you’re on the street,
When evening falls so hard
I will comfort you.
I’ll take your part.
When darkness comes
And pains is all around,
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.

(“Bridge Over Troubled Water” – Simon and Garfunkel)

Update on April 2, 2008:

This morning’s edition of the Marin IJ informs us that: “College of Marin’s Accreditation Future on Hold.”

Baby Boomers: Citizens Not Seniors

Turning 60 is not an insignificant milestone. It sure has me thinking a lot lately, given that I’m now about three months into my seventh decade.

And it appears that I’m not the only one with the implications of baby-boomer aging on my mind.

Last month, in an op-ed piece entitled “Second Acts,” Boston Globe columnist Ellen Goodman told a small part of the Al Gore story…in essence arguing that, in the aftermath of his loss to George W. Bush, Gore was able to rediscover his true calling. Goodman believes that he “found himself by losing himself – literally losing – and being liberated from ambition.”

Further, Goodman suggests that Gore is blazing a new trail for the baby-boomer generation. “Consider the new sixtysomethings,” she says…

…Next Friday, Hillary Clinton turns 60 and her second act is running for president. And when the new Harvard president, Drew Gilpin Faust, 60, met with her Bryn Mawr classmates last summer? Many were talking about leaving their “extreme jobs” just as she was installed in hers.

Baby boomers are the first generation that can look forward to such a lengthy and (fingers crossed) healthy stage of later life. They are as likely to be talking about what they want to do next as about where they want to retire. Never mind all those declarations that 60 is the new 40. In fact, 60 is the new 60.

For me, at age 60, it’s certainly not the case that I’m talking about retirement. As always, in my life, it’s about what to do next.

Not that the question of “what to do next” is, I hope, going to come up very soon (given that I’ve, just recently, totally changed my life yet again). It’s just that, like Gore, in losing, I seem to have found a new direction. Hopefully one that will sustain me for some time to come.

As I’ve written about before, I was forced to reconsider my life almost from the moment the Governor of Oregon dismissed the entire State Board of Higher Education on November 13, 2003. With that single act, after nine years as a policy-wonk type, I needed to find someplace else to land, something else to do. As with our former Vice President, who found a different ladder to climb after some time in the wilderness (how’s that for mixing metaphors?!), I too spent some years out there in the wild, trying to come to grips with the realities of loss and seeking to find a way to let go. Specifically, my path of soul-searching consisted of three years and two temporary jobs at different dysfunctional institutions. Although they took a high personal toll, the growth-providing experiences I had from 2004 to 2007 laid the foundation for finding my version of the “extreme job” …which ultimately came within a month of my 60th birthday.

Not that my current place is the be-all and end-all. Surely it isn’t. When I was recently providing an outline of my non-linear, wayward life to the young woman who now cuts my hair, she seemed genuinely curious about all those twists and turns. At one point, I disclosed that I had very few regrets, but that “if I had it all to do over again,” I might try to focus my life more on writing and photography. When she suggested that “it’s not too late…”, I balked. I indicated that I can write and do photography and pursue my current professional path: that changing directions entirely, at this point, might just take more energy than I have.

But, who knows? I don’t know how long I’ll live. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned thus far, it’s that you can never know what tomorrow will bring. As Ellen Goodman states, “…under the old compact, sixtysomethings were supposed to get out of the way and out of work. They were encouraged by financial incentives and prodded by discrimination. Now we are drawing blueprints for people who see themselves more as citizens than seniors.”

In all honesty, I don’t have any idea when the next fork in the road will present itself to me. For now, though, despite all those aches and pains, I am a citizen, not a senior.

If you come to a fork in the road, take it.

Yogi Berra

Update(s) on November 24, 2007:

I just thought you might like to know…

Shortly after I posted this article, I received an email asking for permission to reprint it. The request came from Frédéric Serrière, editor of theMatureMarket.com website. I gave the green light, and today I discovered that this piece had, indeed, been published. You may find it by clicking here.

Another note…

I have also been mentioned on The Platinum Years Network blog: first here, then here.

Off The Beaten Path

Yesterday I took a little road trip. No, I didn’t have another enzyme bath. (The next one is currently being planned, but it’s not on the calendar yet.) This time I visited the western part of Marin County. I needed to travel to Bolinas for a short meeting at the College of Marin Marine Biology Lab…a rather ancient facility owned by my current employer.

Yes, this time Saturday was a workday. At least I got to see the ocean for the first time in a long time, though.

I had been told that Bolinas is quite the little community. One of the elements of the town’s culture is its isolationist tendencies. Residents mostly just want to be left alone, and they like being off the beaten path. Everyone I talked to, when I mentioned that I was going to Bolinas, informed me that people from the town regularly tear down the road sign on Highway 1 that points would-be visitors to their little burg. Indeed, yesterday when I took the turn-off, I noticed there was a post but no sign. (Luckily, I had a co-pilot, as well as a navigation system, that knew the way there.)

I also learned that the San Andreas Fault runs the length of the Bolinas Lagoon, just a thousand feet from where I stood on Wharf Road. It’s prime earthquake territory, as is just about everywhere I am these days. (I just try to not think about that too much!)

The photo at the top of this entry shows an informal, mid-Saturday-morning gathering of Bolinas residents on the dock owned by the College.

Because

My last job (you remember: that interim position in Roseburg, OR), ended on June 15, and my new one (here in Kentfield, CA: finally a “permanent” job!) starts tomorrow. It’s been a five-week hiatus. Of sorts.

Several folks have remarked how wonderful it must be to have all this “time off.” To which I reply: “HA!” There’s really been no time, not even really a moment, to relax, as the items on my to-do lists have been more numerous and ambitious than ever. (Believe me: moving to another state in order to totally change your life is a deal, you know…)

I begin tomorrow, though, with an apartment that’s mostly put together (even though the books and art are still littering the scene, all still packed away in cardboard boxes). I have a functional living space, and that’s what’s really important to me.

Truthfully, I only really had one “day off” during this whole period. That was Saturday, June 30. I had supervised the loading of all my possessions onto the moving van the previous day, and I was staying with C in Eugene for two nights, Friday and Saturday, before beginning the drive to my new state on Sunday, July 1.

Although it was not nearly enough, I did have that one rather stress-free, agenda-less day, and it was pretty terrific. One particularly memorable part of the experience was my visit to the Eugene Saturday Market. I wandered around and around with my camera, as I usually do there…although I ended up at the stage for one whole hour as Brook Adams (left) played a set of Beatles’ songs. Not just any Beatles’ songs, however: he played the entire Abbey Road album, all 17 songs, in order, “side 1” and “side 2,” accompanying himself on the ukulele. What a hoot!

There’s been a lot to do, and a lot of stress, associated this change, but I am thankful that there have been some lighter moments as well.

Soundtrack Suggestion

Because the world is round it turns me on
Because the world is round...aaaaaahhhhhh

Because the wind is high it blows my mind
Because the wind is high......aaaaaaaahhhh

Love is all, love is new
Love is all, love is you

Because the sky is blue, it makes me cry
Because the sky is blue.......aaaaaaaahhhh

Aaaaahhhhhhhhhh....

(“Because” – Lennon-McCartney, from Abbey Road)

A Farewell Message

Here is the email message I sent out today to my community-college-administrator colleagues in the state of Oregon…

Greetings, all…

I know many of you on this listserve will remember me from the seven and a half years I was a regular participant in your quarterly in-person CIA meetings. During that time, 1997-2004, I held the title of “Director of Community College Articulation” with the Oregon University System. I was honored to have been included in your circle even though I was from “the dark side.” Of course, I ceased attending your meetings when my employment with OUS ended three years ago as a result of the Chancellor’s Office reorganization.

Since July of 2004 I have still been among you, only less visibly. During 2004-06 I was the Interim Dean of Science & Technology at Mt. Hood Community College and this last academic year, 2006-07, I have been at Umpqua Community College as the Interim Division Director for Math, Science & Liberal Arts.

I was inspired by Reine Thomas’ recent “departure decision” message to let you know what’s going on with me. (Oh, by the way Reine, your decision sounds exceptionally healthy and wise. Like everyone else, I wish you Godspeed!)

So, my news: I have recently accepted a position with the College of Marin (just north of San Fran) as their new Dean of Math and Sciences. You’ll note the absence of the word “interim” in my title this time. Yes, after a three-years-long transition period from Chancellor’s Office policy wonk to community college dean, the metamorphosis seems to be complete. My last day here at UCC is June 15th and I begin work at COM next month.

After 37 years of calling myself an Oregonian, I’m sure it will feel mighty strange to take on the identity of a Golden Stater. And, of course, it will be agonizing to leave behind all my friends in Oregon higher education. But, the opportunity is too golden, and the location too amazing, to pass up.

As I leave, I wish you economic prosperity and an enlightened Governor, legislature, and electorate that will support your endeavors here to serve Oregon’s postsecondary students. I wish you individual health and happiness. I wish you, all, only the best.

Sincerely,

-jim