Unemployed: A Journey Through the Dark Woods

By Dr. Christa Metzger

Losing your job feels the same whether its that of an executive, a manager, a factory worker, or a store clerk Christas metaphor of being lost in a dark forest perfectly illustrates this experience. Read Christas insightful book and feel understood! Learn from her insights and see how to make it through. Dr. Stephen L. Sokolow, Executive Director of the Center for Empowered Leadership

As Dr. Christa openly shares, her time of unemployment was an emotionally devastating experience The rich fruit of her sensitive and thoughtful reflections is the treasure contained in this book An added benefit is that the lessons about job loss have relevance for any kind of loss you might experience, such as the death of a loved one, the break-up of a relationship, or the loss of your health. Dr. Wilkie Au, professor of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles

Anyone who is unemployed, or knows someone who is, needs to read Christas story told from journals she kept during her job loss. She depicts the stark realities of this experience with humor and insights gained from looking back years later and seeing how this dark journey led her to light. This would be a great gift book from a caring friend! Serena Santillanes, MS, National Certified Counselor (NCC), Master Career Counselor (MCC), President and Founder of Career Journeys, Inc.

Many years ago, when what befell Christa happened to me, I wish Id had her book on my bedside table. My own painful transition into a new life would have been far, far easier. Robert W. Cole, Proprietor, Edu-Data, Former President, Educational Press Association of America

• Language: English
• Publisher: Inspiring Voices
• Release date: Nov 18, 2011
• ISBN: 9781462400201

Dr. Christa Metzger

Christa Metzger is Professor Emeritus, California State University, Northridge. She and her architect husband live in their home in the woods on the Inner Banks of Eastern North Carolina. Her career encompasses many years as teacher, administrator, and university professor in three states and in Germany. She has written a book, led workshops and published widely on themes related to spirituality in leadership and personal growth.

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Copyright © 2011 Dr. Christa Metzger

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Photographs by Kathi Rippe with permission:

COVER: Photographed at Yosemite National Park

DEER for CLEARINGS ICON: Photographed at Black Bute, Oregon

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ISBN: 978-1-4624-0019-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4624-0020-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011939917

Printed in the United States of America

Inspiring Voices rev. date: 11/8/2011

Contents

Dedication

Foreword

About the Author

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Concluding thoughts

References

ENDORSEMENTS

Losing your job feels the same – whether it’s that of an executive, a manager, a factory worker, or a store clerk. Because our personal identity is so closely associated with the work that we do, when we lose our job, we often lose a part of ourselves as well. We feel lost. Christa’s metaphor of being lost in a dark forest perfectly illustrates this experience.

Christa had many successful years as an educational leader. She made it all the way to the top of her career – a school district superintendent. Then her school board changed and so did her life.

Christa’s experience mirrors those of all too many of her colleagues. With increasing frequency top educational leaders are losing their positions for political or ideological reasons. When this happens it not only creates turmoil in schools and districts, but wreaks havoc with the lives and careers of competent leaders who are badly needed in our schools today.

Read Christa’s insightful book and feel understood! Learn from her insights and see how to make it through.

Dr. Stephen L. Sokolow, Executive Director of the Center for Empowered Leadership

I have had many years of experience assisting people with their careers and while job loss can be a blessing in disguise, the road to realizing this blessing can be paved with uncertainty, frustration, loss and more.

Christa Metzger knows first–hand about the hardships and the shame people can go through when losing a job which often feels like a loss of career identity. The search for a new path can be like walking through a dark forest.

Anyone who is unemployed, or knows someone who is, needs to read Christa’s story – told from journals she kept during her job loss. She depicts the stark realities of this experience with humor and insights gained from looking back years later and seeing how this dark journey led her to light.

Her wisdom will guide you and give you courage to find clearings in the dark woods of your own loss.

This would be a great gift book from a caring friend!

Serena Santillanes

MS, National Certified Counselor (NCC), Master Career Counselor (MCC), President and Founder of Career Journeys, Inc.

Dr. Christa Metzger is one of the bravest, most scrupulously honest people I know. Just as important, for the purposes of her valuable book, Unemployed—A Journey Through the Dark Woods, she is unsparingly frank about herself and her painful journey of self-discovery. It’s a testament to her generosity of spirit that she has distilled her own challenging experiences into a supportive, renewing guide for the countless others who face this same debilitating life situation.

I first met Christa when I was editor-in-chief of Phi Delta Kappan magazine. At the time, she was an assistant superintendent, clearly headed toward a superintendency. Impressed by her writing ability and, even more, by her keen and humane intelligence, I invited her to join the Kappan’s Board of Editorial Consultants. Christa never disappoints, always impresses—and never more so than in what proved to be the greatest challenge of her life.

What happens, she asks, after you’ve lost your job, especially in your inner world? What happens, if you’re a courageous spirit like Christa Metzger, is that you suffer, and then you learn and grow—and continue to grow, because growth and renewal are life itself.

Many years ago, when what befell Christa happened to me, I wish I’d had her book on my bedside table. My own painful transition into a new life would have been far, far easier.

Robert W. Cole

Proprietor, Edu-Data

Former President, Educational Press Association

of America

Also by Christa Metzger:

Involuntary turnover of superintendents (1997, January). Thrust for Educational Leadership, 26 (4), 20-22, 44)

Balancing leadership and personal growth: The school administrator’s guide (2006). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Personal growth in the workplace: Spiritual practices you can use (2008). In The Soul of Educational Leadership (Chapter 4). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

In addition, Christa has published many articles on topics related to leadership, personal growth, evaluation of teachers and administrators, parental involvement in schools, school reform, superintendent/school board relation, and comparison of German and American schools.

Dedication

To the millions of Americans who are unemployed:

May this book be a blessing on your journey as you search for work that is commensurate with your interests, preparation, qualifications, and financial needs!

To all those who surround the unemployed - their friends, associates, and families:

May this book help you to walk with them as allies and be there for them with the understanding, support, patience, and love they need during this difficult time!

Foreword

by Wilkie Au, Ph.D.

If you are reading this, you probably are, or have been, unemployed - or you know someone who is. This valuable and timely book flows from the author’s personal experience of being unemployed for 18 months in the 1990’s.

Today’s economic situation is even worse than it was back then. Nearly 1 in 10 Americans (about 14 Million) are currently out of work, and many cannot find suitable employment for months or even years. The New York Times (Business Section, July 10, 2011) calls it the gravest jobs crisis since the Great Depression.

Although the external circumstances of unemployment vary from one economic crisis and one individual to another, the common element in all job loss experiences is what happens to a person in his or her inner world during this process – the spiritual and psychological aspects of the journey.

As Dr. Christa openly shares, her time of unemployment was an emotionally devastating experience. It took her over twelve years to recover from her job loss and to reach a place where she could finally write about it. Pulling out the boxes of journals that recorded her painful experience, she reflected on what she did, how she coped, and what she might have done differently to avoid the suffering she experienced. The rich fruit of her sensitive and thoughtful reflections is the treasure contained in this book.

This book is not a manual for how to get a job, though there are many suggestions you may find helpful. What this book does is to help you understand what goes on inside you in a time of loss and crisis, and to help you find your way out of these dark woods to discover new purpose and meaning in your life.

An added benefit of this book is that the lessons about job loss have relevance and will apply to any kind of loss you might experience, such as the death of a loved one, the break-up of a relationship, or the loss of your health.

You will walk with Dr. Christa through these dark inner woods and find your own path through them. You will discover clearings in the forest (insights) to shed light on your next steps. And you will make it through to a new beginning – re-created and transformed.

Dr. Wilkie Au, is a professor of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles and an award-winning author of five books that integrate the wisdom of Christian spirituality and modern psychology.

About the Author

Christa Metzger is retired and living with her architect husband in the woods on the Inner Banks in Eastern North Carolina. They moved there from Los Angeles, California where she earned the distinction of Professor Emeritus from the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at California State University, Northridge.

Christa has a doctorate (PhD) in educational administration from Arizona State University, a master’s degree from the University of Florida, and a Bachelor of Science degree (summa cum laude) from Florida Southern College. She has been a university professor, teacher and school administrator in Florida, Germany, Arizona, and California. Her experience includes ten years as a school district superintendent.

She has been actively involved as a leader and contributor in many community and professional organizations, including a term on the Phi Delta Kappa International editorial board. In addition to her many honors and distinctions, she received the All Arizona Superintendent award from the Arizona School Administrators Association in 1990. She has published many articles and one book and has made numerous presentations to groups of educators, business, church, and community groups on a variety of topics.

This book about her journey during a time of unemployment is a departure from her past successful professional writing and represents her desire to share insights with others from a more personal perspective. The crisis of her unemployment experience drove her into her inner world where the rules of intellectual achievements from a successful professional career no longer applied.

Acknowledgements

There are so many who supported and helped me through the dark woods of my unemployment. Without their love and their belief in me, I might still be wandering. I want to specifically name a few of them.

o   Alfredo, whose compassion, loyalty, wisdom, and compassion have no limit

o   Bernadette (Sr. Bernie), who is now with her creator – her life was my example

o   Betteanne, a brilliant poet and my wise friend for over 40 years

o   Bob Cole, whose creative mind and never-failing acceptance guided me through a lot of thickets

o   Carolyn Thacker, who knew I just needed to help her cook and chop onions for therapy

o   Christa, my namesake, whose youth, fervor, and innocence helped me to trust life again

o   Eagle who showed me how to accept all that is inside me by sharing the darkness and the brilliance of her own heart and mind

o   Elaine, who stood with me when others turned away

o   Elliot Mininberg, my new beloved boss who made up his own mind about everything - including me

o   Evelyne Fuchs, my young friend, who just listened and somehow understood

o   George (the Most Reverend) Niederauer, my spiritual advisor during this difficult time

o   Hank, my husband who stayed by my side with love and immeasurable patience

o   Howard, my late professor who always knew just what to ask

o   Ida, who never lost faith and kept believing in me

o   J. Gordon Nelson, my Jungian analyst who guided me through all parts of my Self

o   Janet, my dear adopted daughter who made me laugh and whose steadfast loyalty cheered me on

o   Karin, a rock to whom I could always turn

o   Kathi, whose compassion and kindness are matched only by her creative gifts

o   Manny Silva, for his empathy and constancy

o   Pam, for her continued support and friendship through inhospitable territories

o   Patricia Hughes, my meditation partner

o   Rachelle Benveniste, my writing teacher, whose magic touched the pain and helped the wounds to heal

o   Ruth Wegner, my sister whose sage advice was a constant companion

o   Schatzi, my dog – who licked my tears

o   Sharon, with whom I could share everything – except her untimely death

o   Wilkie Au, who opened my inner eyes to the spiritual world

In addition, I want to express deepest appreciation to those who helped make this book a reality, especially to my readers who spent much time to edit the various drafts and gave me valuable feedback: Betteanne Rutten, Elliot Mininberg, Elaine Gourley and Alfredo Gamez.

To the staff at Inspiring Voices my gratitude for their patience and assistance in formatting the manuscript and preparing it for publication. Special thanks to Amanda Parsons and Sam Fitzgerald for their expertise and support.