86 and Counting

12 Months without a "Job"

After 3 1/2 months I started writing on Substack - looking back at the adventures I had to seriously pivot to in 1972 after being told it was too dangerous to be in Uganda, Africa. Three of my kids and I were all vaccinated and ready to go because I had been hired to be the Headmistress in a Girls Secondary School. The news was followed by finding out a new teacher had been hired the previous day to fill the position I had resigned from. I wrote about that pivot in June and July ‘25.

So, I’ve been thinking about “pivoting” a lot lately. How is it different from deciding to do something else, searching for another position in education, taking classes in the Dramatics Dept. because you volunteered to be the Teacher who works with the students to produce three plays a school year?

That is the question I have been seriously pondering. What is the difference between “doing something different” or “pivoting” and does it matter if either choice has made you happy and/or met your current needs? Maybe another way to look at it is that pivoting takes a person away from the logical, usual, expected next steps - which often are stated as “Keep doing what you’re doing - because it works.” I think an example of “pivoting” might be the number of business owners who were encouraged to manifest an entirely different way of operating their businesses when they had to close their doors during the pandemic. I see it as “pivoting” rather than changing because most of them had never even considered taking a phone call and arranging to meet one person in the store to shop or to meet someone at the curb with something not really easily mailable they had purchased online or making a personal delivery, etc.

The book: A Guide to Pivoting - From Here to There also has chapters: The Power of Pivoting, My Life as a Serial Pivotor, 7 Keys to Pivoting, etc. I have been working on making that book happen - going to workshops, thinking about it, listening to other’s experiences, writing and, unfortunately, writing a book is starting to feel like “doing something different, not pivoting.

Maybe what I really do need to get serious about is figuring out what to do with the thousands of miniature animals, small furniture, boats, cars, action figures, ancient spice cans, memorabilia, keys, casino cards, lazy susans and wall display boxes that have shown up over the years. Would that process be a pivot to attempting artistry, needing to clean house or just doing something different?

Peaceful