Conversation | 05/13/2009 11:00 pm

How to Reinvent Yourself in These Changing Times: The wOw Conversation

Gain exposure, find a hobby and other wise words from Candice Bergen, Liz Smith and Cynthia McFadden.

With Candice Bergen, Cynthia McFadden and Liz Smith

LIZ: I work harder now than I’ve ever worked. I make relatively no money. But it’s funny, I’m looking to a payoff down the line, as if I’m going to live forever. And honestly, I think that’s the best way to live, instead of waking up in a cold sweat every morning and saying, “Hey, I may not be here tomorrow.” And also, I really have rediscovered the joy of working just for the joy of work. Work is just wonderful. I think you would say, Candy, that if you could go back to the terrible hard days of "Murphy Brown" it would make you happy. Maybe you don’t want to or need to, but you have said that was a wonderful moment for you.

CANDICE: It was a great moment. I wouldn’t mind, you know, one Murphy special, but ten more years would be … it would kill me, frankly. It was a lot of work. It was great. But I just turned down a lead in a sitcom because I wanted to be next to my husband instead of in Los Angeles all the time.

LIZ: Well that makes sense, knowing your husband. Do you see yourself doing less acting in the future?

This is a seminal time in this moment in the world, because so many people are displaced from their comfort and from their security.

CANDICE: I see myself doing less, I would say. Yes.

LIZ: But you are taking a sculpture class right now.

CANDICE: It’s true. I’m taking a sculpture class just to fight my inertia when I’m not working. But I love it. It’s great fun. I would probably work less, but I would get involved in other areas, or maybe if I could get my ass in gear to write. I should do that.

LIZ: Would you consider doing a role on the Broadway stage, Candy, or is that too hard?

CANDICE: I’m worried about my memory, frankly. But I would if it were something, you know, funny enough or someone that I cared about enough to do that with. I think that would be great fun.

CYNTHIA: Is it the work or is it the location of the work that has you … I mean, it seems to me, in some ways you don’t want to be in California all the time. Is that what I hear you saying?

CANDICE: Yes. And I also don’t want to be doing a full-time show because it’s —

CYNTHIA: Right. It’s brutal.

CANDICE: — exhausting. But no, I just like to be doing something and I don’t even care too much what it is, just as long as it keeps me busy and engaged. What about you guys?

LIZ: Well, Cynthia, speaking of a brutal schedule, you have a brutal job. You’re just on call all the time.

CYNTHIA: I’m trying to be Murphy Brown, which is really hard! On the topic of adapting to changing times, I realize that working with very young people has been really good for me. I have been forced – and pleasantly so – to change my attitudes about lots of things, and to grow. You know, I think that’s the ticket to evolution for me. It’s great to try to preserve the things that work from the past. I think one of the reasons that Liz is perpetually so young is she has so many young friends. And I think that’s a huge part of making an evolution in your life, in your career, in your thinking.

Read more about: 9/11, Career, Change, Family, Lifestyle, Murphy Brown, Technology, Think Up, Time, Work

42 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

Hey Kathy…. that kicks ASS!!! wooohooo!!!

By Chrome Toe on 05/14/2009 10:12 am

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Oh - and Ms. Bergen - Have I got a part for you.

By Kathy Douglass on 05/14/2009 10:05 am

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Kathy: At 50 life can be like another staring point as I very well know. Good luck on all your endeavors and I hope when you come back you’ll tell us some tales, also give us a run down on the play––sounds fetching! Take care of yourself.

By phyllis Doyle Pepe on 05/14/2009 10:56 am

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Oh the ladies are a singin my song this morning… Candice talking about going nuts from inertial and not working. OMG! Can I relate! I FINALLY got all my ducks in a row for a contracting business ( i mean contracs not construction) that i’d been working on for a YEAR. During that year i also started setting myself up to do personal training in case the contracting i wanted to do didn’t pan out. I had to be placed on a list of providers and it wasn’t easy getting on that list. so i went to school and took physiology, kinesiology, nutrition… so now, when i’m done healing from this stupid hysterectomy (arggggggg!!!!) I can finally go to real WORK. God i’m excited! I hate inertia and i was starting to go insane! and i have no talent to fall back on like sculpting or photography or anything.

By Chrome Toe on 05/14/2009 10:10 am

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Hi Chrome….I remember a book from "the old days"..I think it was called "Shifting Gears"…I’m gonna hunt it back up….But there was a wonderful section in it called Creative Daydreaming…..Maybe you could replace "inertia" with that nice phrase…xoxoxo

By georgia fatwood on 05/18/2009 7:18 am

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Oh Georgia that’s great… Creative Daydreaming. I love it!

By Chrome Toe on 05/18/2009 8:40 am

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I am so fortunate that I work for a large corporation that encourages growth and change. I have constantly reinvented myself. I’ve had easily 15 different jobs but all with the same company. I love what I do. I’m good at it. I have no idea what I’ll be doing next because I haven’t invented it yet but I know it will get me excited to get out of bed and go to work. My personal life has been the same. I decided I wanted to be more like my father, who was a very happy person with friends everywhere. I’ve always been very reserved and critical. I let go of that and try to go with the flow more. I’ve found that I am much happier (and probably much more fun to be around.)

I believe in retirement, but only if you decide to retire from your job and not from life. I can’t wait to retire because I have so many fun things to do. I can’t cram them all in now, although I dabble. Having the time and resources to be able to volunteer, take classes, actually try all those recipes I’ve been cutting out for years, go to lunch with friends. have a quickie with my husband in the middle of the day. Wow…let’s get started now!!!

By Barbara on 05/14/2009 10:58 am

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Liz, I am a fan who has always enjoy and admire your opinions. And now even more to see that you remain active and involved. Although I may not be in your circle of celebrities friends, you continue to provide role modeling and inspiration. Keep rocking it babe.

Maria Julia from Miami Beach

By MariaJulia Garcia on 05/14/2009 11:58 am

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I’m reading Oleg Cassini’s autobiography, "In My Own Fashion", wherein he mentions that Liz worked for Oleg’s brother, Igor, a/k/a gossip columnist Cholly Knickerbocker & describes Liz as "the excellent Liz Smith". Liz talks about this career "reinvention" from journalist to gossip columnist assistant in her own autobiography, "Natural Blonde" (read it, it’s terrific- I found it more interesting than Cassini’s book).

By Carole Del Monte on 05/14/2009 12:19 pm

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I am feeling so despaired. I am 57 years old, haven’t worked for years except for the Christmas holidays when department store are hiring. There was a time when I was laid off from my job and I became everyone in the family care-giver. Now I look back and time has past me by. I am feeling so depress because I don’t even know how to get back into the work field. When you go fill out applications and the interviewers look at that time span of not working it is hard to explain that you were taking care of your sick father, or that at one time you became the foster parent of your niece children because she was unable to care for them. I am so overwhelmed with so many feelings right now and one of them is ashamed because I didn’t work harder to have a career . Now even tho much haven’t change people still need me in one way of the other, I am now feeling what about me. I just need a liite part time job to feel some self worth. I know I will need some type of re-training to make myself a candidate for a job. Right now I am waiting for my granddaughter to come home from school so I am still being the care-giver. It doesn’t seem my life will ever change. How can I reinvent myself? I was a secretary and I tried to keep myself abreast of things with different computer programs but some much have changed. People are always saying do something you are passionate about after giving it some thought I find I am very passionate about taking pictures. Never thought of that as a profession and it just came to mind while I am writing this. The question how to I reinvent myself and I hope this is the right venue for this type of conversation if not thanks for letting me vent.

By OTELIA WILKES on 05/14/2009 12:44 pm

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Hello from a "Virtual Intern"! My reinvention was as a character actress by using the platform of the internet. I had used computers for years so it wasn’t that much of a stretch -but still, I have learned a LOT & continue to do so, which is fun. On the side I have my frugal blog at www.myfrugallife.com/pamphyila.html - & I hv said that I want to write my book about it - so much to DO. I plan to retire only in the eyes of the gouvernement…

By Pamela Munro on 05/14/2009 1:28 pm

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I avoided this question for quite a while. I went back to school after my kids were in school and got my teaching certificate 12 years ago…when I couldn’t find a job (After 11 years of subbing - I really stuck to it!) I decided to look for a good receptionist job, nothing opened up so I got brazen and offered my services as writer to a new newspaper in town as a columnist…after only two years the paper folded.

We all know the economy now and I have had three interviews - good eh? I also received three thanks-but-no-thanks letters in less than a day after each interview.

Where to from here? That is the million dollar question - I am asking myself that very thing every morning. I’m not ready to give up, I know I’m a good writer, but where to go in an economy that is steadily dropping it’s older workers from the payroll - and I’m one of them? Any ideas out there? I am open to any and all ideas!

By Chris Broersma on 05/14/2009 1:50 pm

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Ah, a funny thing about this fear so many are talking about, I’m not afraid to work, just that I can’t find the job. Period.
I’ve re-invented myself many times over. Age 12, forced to take part in a debate, best thing to happen to a "don’t notice me kid." Age 14, began writing poetry, poorly, but kept it up. Age 21, became a mom, never so sure of any "career" or what & how to do things in my life. (Kept writing & drawing.) Age 35, decided to get back into my lifelong passion, Art / Painting. Age 40, Wham! I entered college. (Mom was right, "Life begins at 40.") I was scared I’d blow it, being dyslexic, but exhilarated. The biggest risk in my life was to go for a degree in Art Education! Age 50, I got my BA and a job, as a sub. And yes, Liz, teaching kids I learned much from them and loved every minute (even the pesky ones). I kept hoping the district would need another Art teacher, even part time … no such luck. Three years ago, I was let go.
So, I understand where you’re coming from, Chris. "Where to from here? That is the million dollar question…" You love what you do, but it’s taken from you. You send out resume’s anywhere, go to an interview, feel great, but nada. Numerous dead ends, and you get into a rut. I stopped doing my art, the only thing that kept me sane. I have a lot of interests, and put all aside, for lack of $. I have a ton of things I can do, but no "papers" to prove them to an employer.
What Candice said helps some, go out & do something, keep busy. So, I volunteer at a food pantry. But now I NEED a job, as my husband took a less stress / less pay job and this economic free fall has cost him the COLA he was supposed to get this year. We’re borrowing from our meager savings we have to make ends meet (& we DON’T shop, charge, or spend much!) So, I joined wOw Virtual Interns. But I wonder, how is that going to help me find something, just using facebook & LinkedIn? I know it’s just begun, but if I’m spending so much time on the net, how can I find that job suitable for me, or how do I get anything else done? Yes, that’s the scary part for me, having to rely on the web for work.
I don’t like being this negative, but with so many people out there, with so many gifts & talents (& the advantage of "youth"), and so few jobs available, what’s a "golden girl" to do?

By Kathleen E Lo Pinto VIgnolini on 05/20/2009 4:13 am

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Oh, Kathleen, I am so where you’re at!! I’m on FB, LinkedIn, BlogCatalog you name it all on my own! FB is filled with games I don’t want to play and I have been getting some strange responses off of a few of those other sites. I don’t have an answer either but I find ranting here and one other site helps a bit. The problem is at I still need that job, and I ain’t getting any younger! I am so afraid that once this economy finally opens up again I will be past the age where anyone will want to hire someone as old as I’ll be! It’s great if you’re a star and have white hair, you have your history..I’ve never had one and hair color is certainly not the answer - I tried it for over 9 years!

Shall we call this a cooperative "UGH?!"

By Chris Broersma on 05/20/2009 11:49 am

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For most of my earlier career, I worked in the medical profession and after many promotions, I reached the top of the ladder. But I was lost in a sea of reports, paper work, meetings, deadlines and ,little by little, I was losing all contact with human beings. Instead of embracing humanity, I seemed to be turning away from it. This simply was not the way to live. Yet, the work paid off and I was able to live a comfortable lifestyle. But at what cost? I just didn’t feel as though I was participating in the world anymore and in mid-life, I knew that it was time to reinvent myself. It started with volunteering in social service organizations and soon, I was beginning to feel alive again. I returned to school to become a Mental Health Counselor. I work with people at risk, now. I work with those facing addictions, HIV/AIDS, GLBT discrimination, mental health issues and those who are homeless or are at risk of becoming homeless. Like Liz Smith, I am working harder than I ever have and am making much less money. Somehow, this doesn’t seem to matter as I feel part of the world now and am using my own life experiences assisting others, making a difference in the lives of those I work with. And the payoff is heartfelt. It helps me sleep a little easier at night. I plan to continue in this line of work for years to come. I feel the joy on a daily basis and I embrace the challenges that I face on a daily basis, as well. I am thankful that my earlier career fell short of my human expectations and opened my eyes to the path that I have now chosen. It is like seeing color from a previous black and white world. Now, I wouldn’t change a thing.

By Richard Bassett on 05/14/2009 2:39 pm