NEW INTEREST GROUP: Susan Wright suggested that as a group we take on doing a book, a collection of our individual memoirs with the theme of transition – whenever and however it is occurring or has occurred in your life. Susan is leading the interest group that will collaborate on this. At each TTN monthly meeting, a brief reading from the work in progress will be followed by ten minutes of discussion, If you find writing difficult, this is a good chance to build your neuroplasticity by doing what’s difficult – but in a supportive environment. The focus is on communicating your experiences in your own style as opposed to competing with best-selling authors. Interested TTN members should commit to writing at least one personal narrative on transition. The goal for November is a draft ms. ready for production. There will be a kick-off meeting in January to discuss our stories, brainstorm, and set a plan of work, much of which will circulate via e-mail. If you want to learn more about it, Susan’s e-mail is sbriggswright@comcast.net. 2010 PLANS: We will continue with our conversation-triggered-by-a-topic-and-a-question format by this year, different TTN members will organize each topic and facilitate the meeting. For two of the meetings, participants are invited to do advance reading. The October meeting is a discussion of specific book about women and transition that Susan Lieberman thinks will resonate with this group. The March meeting is about a type and temperament model called the Enneagram and it is suggested participants might want to read a bit first to orient them to the Enneagram and take an online assessment to key in on their own enneagram type. January We Change: “I’ve always wanted to …..” And NOW, Lieberman do I really still want to? February Image: How we figure out how to stay and look relevant Schmidt without ignoring our age. Briggs-Wright March Learning about the Enneagram Mc Cleod Suggested reading: The Essential Enneagram, 2009 Webb edition, David Daniels and Virginia Price, $9.35 on Amazon and on line assessment. April Hot or Not: Sexuality as we age Greenberg May
The Changing Shape of Time—How We Think About, Gremillion Experience and Manage (or not) Our Time. Kerr June Reads We Recommend Schmidt and book swap Armani July Our Creative State of Mind: How Do We Channel It Hansen and Where Does it Come From? Dwyer August No Meeting. Go Play. September Our Thoughts on Dying Zerkelbach Bliss October A Discussion arising from reading Inventing the Rest of Lieberman Our Lives by Suzanne Braun Levine November Our Memoirs Briggs Wright December
No Meeting. Maybe Partying. A few other notes:STEERING COMMITTEE: At our year-end gathering and “business meeting,” we designated a 2010 steering committee to deal with any issues that require decision-making beyond what we can do in five minutes. The women who agreed to this are Susan Lieberman, Kathy McCleod (treasurer), Lynn Bliss, Thelma Zerkelback and Sally Dwyer. If you want to join us, send me a note: susan.lieberman@gmail.com. We could use another body or two. SOCIAL NETWORKING: There is interest in learning more about social networking and we’ll organize a separate something for this for those who want to learn. I promise to see that this happens in 2010. INTEREST GROUPS: The Death, Dying and Dessert special interest group continues The Cooking special interest group continues. Anyone interested in starting a special interest group just because
she has an interest and wants company is encouraged to do so. (I see a virtual/teleconference peer group for former lawyers was just set up for nationwide members.)
The TTN-Houston September meeting will be Monday 9/14, a week later than usual, because of Labor Day. The October meeting will not be at Etui, our usual spot. Instead, we are going to visit TTN member Mary Margaret Hansen's art exhibit, Second Seating, next to Irma's Restaurant, 22 N. Chenevert Street, Houston, TX 77002-1302. To get an idea of the fantastic creativity Mary Margaret is generating, visit her blog on the show: http://secondseatinghouston.blogspot.com/. Our conversation that night will be about what, metaphorically, we hope to serve at our own "second seating." If you want to be on the email list, send a note to susan@lieberman.net.
Houston co-chairs Susan Lieberman and Eva Archer Smith took their professional expertise as coaches to create a fun and thought-provoking discussion for the chapter's January meeting. Titled What Do I Know Now That I Didn't Know When I Was 30?, the session helped members highlight the positives of being older. Sample comments included:
I have learned to take care of relationships. I think now of the people who were important in my life who I let drift away. Now, I so much appreciate the importance of friendship. It is to be nurtured.
I have become more comfortable in the present. I spent so much of my life thinking about the future and now, I can enjoy just where I am.
Amy Schmidt spoke for many when she called the next day to say another TTN member, “What a magical evening. So much wisdom, so much laughter, so much growth. I felt privileged to have been in that room.”
Interested in learning more? Contact Susan at susan@lieberman.net, or Eva at Evaas@earthlink.net.
On April 8, 2008, the Houston TTN Chapter was privileged to meet with a panel of 4 women in their 30's. They were an accomplished group--a novelist, a newspaper columnist, an artist, and a marketing officer. They were married, single, with and without children. The TTN group shared our perspectives on their lives and challenges, and they then shared their reality with us. It was a fascinating discussion of women's struggles, challenges and opportunities.
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