Coping in 2021 by Sheri LeClair Banitt

On February 7, 2020 I started The Millennial Boomer blog with optimism and glee. I was not ready, but I started anyway. I always wanted to blog and I had the free time to do it. The blog was going to highlight my experiences as a Boomer in the workplace with all the Millennials. I love my job and the people I work with and it seemed like others could relate to my world. But I wasn’t quite sure how to use Word Press or how the blog would turn out.

I had a few fun entries about the stuff I do and think about. It was fun and light hearted. And then Covid came. My employer sent me and my work team home along with over 2,000 fellow associates to keep us safe from the virus. This was a good decision and has protected us from illness and death. But it caused extra work and extra stress. Navigating the changes made it harder to get the blogging done. But I got in a rhythm and posted about my hobbies and the fun things I was doing while quarantined at home.

And then came the murder of George Floyd. This shook me deeply and changed my perspective on many things. Because I was working from home, I was more in touch with social media and saw the video on Facebook as it was happening. I was horrified to see the incident and had to stop working for the day to process all of it. I tried to move on with the blog but started to feel that I needed to make changes.

Around this time, my daughter, who follows Dr. Stacey Patton on twitter heard about a free class she was offering to help people learn how to use Word Press. I signed up for the class and was accepted. I was so excited to learn about digital media from an expert at a time when I needed guidance.

The class was fun and informative and I was surrounded by people like me who needed help navigating the digital media world. I created many fun projects that are posted on the blog. But the most valuable take away was getting to know my classmates, who were mostly people of color. I got a whole new perspective on what it means to be in America when you are white.

I learned about racial inequality in America. I started to understand things that affect me daily that I never even thought about. I learned about white privilege and how I have it, whether I know it or not. I learned how ignorance is embedded in white supremacy and how I unknowingly support it.

And once you know a thing, you cannot unknow it. That is when everything became very hard for me and the joy of blogging disappeared. I felt the weight of the pandemic and the heavier weight that the murder of George Floyd brought to public awareness.

Then came the Presidential election and the contentious discourse in the media. It was impossible to coast in safety on the sidelines. The two political parties were so opposite that you could not avoid taking a stand. I took the side of love, compassion, kindness, tolerance and charity. This made me a target for many Trump loving Republicans who see these ideologies as weaknesses instead of virtues. Many hours of conversation with friends and family, online and in person revealed thoughts, feelings and values that had been previously hidden.

When Biden/Harris won the election, there was no peace. Many Trump supporters backed his assertion that the election was stolen from him. Their anger soon brought us to the insurrection at the Capitol in January. Then came more tension, more polarity, more reasons to leave friendships and distance from family when there is no way to bridge the chasm.

With all the social unrest, I still had to manage the increased workload and challenging new processes that Covid 19 brought to the workplace.

So, the blog moved down in my priorities. I also worried about what to publish. I wondered if it was right to talk about funny, silly, frivolous things when real life was demanding such deep introspection.

After taking a break from the blog for a bit, here’s what I decided:

Life goes on during good times and bad times.

I have white privilege.

Talking about disagreements is how we gain understanding. Understanding is the first step in making changes.

Blogging is fun. I can support changes to eliminate systemic racism and this does not eliminate my right to happiness and my ability to experience and share joy.

Hope you’ll join me in my continued blogging journey.

Peace.

HR Regulations Have Improved the Work Application Process by Sheri LeClair Banitt

I work for a financial services company, supervising a customer operations team. I hire for entry level, customer service positions and frequently get first time job seekers who are straight out of college, and displaced older workers, looking for a fresh start.

I have two specialists on my team who interview with me. We have a standard set of questions designed to help us find people who will be able to do the work in our area. Our job is to find qualified, capable individuals and then give them the tools they need to succeed.

Looking through the box of ‘Old Papers From the Office’ that my grandfather had saved gave me a new perspective on why we do what we do today. He is no longer living, but I knew my grandpa to be a fair, honest, caring person. His job was important to him and I recall that he was a lifelong learner and continued to find new practices that helped the workers he represented. Watch to see how far we have advanced in privacy practices since his day.

New Me 2021 by Sheri LeClair Banitt

No make up, no glasses, just me in the winter.

The River Walk has been a repeating theme on my blog.  This is because I have been working from home since March 2020 due to the covid 19 pandemic.  I have replaced the 45-minute commute to and from work with two walks along the river instead.

The Little Cannon River Falls 12-26-2020

I’m thankful to be working from home. Even so, it’s not easy. I lead a large customer service team with a fast-paced workload and a changing daily volume of work.  In order to be successful as a team, I need to be successful as a leader. This takes extra care when working remotely. I have to understand what everyone is doing, how they’re feeling about it and make sure that everything is getting done.  The emotional work is harder when you can’t see each other in person, face to face.

I love my job and I’m good at it. I think it’s because I’ve spent a lifetime caring for and about other people. My greatest talent is generating enthusiasm and cultivating pride of accomplishment.  I lead from behind, and most people don’t even realize my input.  It’s my calling, it’s what I do, I can’t not do this.  I love having my team in the spotlight, I love seeing them succeed. And I hate being in the spotlight, though I do want to succeed.  It is the fear of judgement that keeps me in the shadows.

I’ve spent my life striving for more; always wanting to do better and be better.  I have compared myself to everyone I meet and always find myself wanting.  I’m not as smart, not as educated, don’t work for any worthy cause, haven’t suffered enough, haven’t overcome enough, don’t have as much money, not as thin, not as good-looking, don’t have as many friends. These are the thoughts that propel me to work harder, study more, do more, be more.  It’s like walking uphill and never reaching the top.

I’ve done many things, but never achieved the expert status I’ve been looking for.  There is always someone doing it better. There is always another book, another talk show, another podcast with all the secrets to being best.

The new pace of the pandemic has given me time to slow down and reflect. Looking back, I realize that while striving for something else, I have missed many wonderful things within my reach, like the River Walk. 

This path has been just outside my door for 27 years and I’ve never appreciated it.  People travel from miles away to walk the trails that pass by the meeting of the Big Cannon and the Little Cannon rivers.  There is nature and wildlife for miles within steps from my home. Since March, I have discovered the seasons in ways I haven’t seen since childhood.  I have been out walking in sunshine and rain, heat and cold, humidity and dry winds.  I have seen birds and fish and dogs with their people out enjoying the world without words, without conversation, without judgement. It’s given me time to think about the people and places I have taken for granted and never really appreciated. I wish I could go back in time and do some things over.  I would do them better, that’s for sure.

And now the world is changing.  As the airlines and internet have brought us closer, the human condition has pushed us apart.  We are mortal and subject to disease, illness and death.   For most of us, the reality of this pandemic is the first time we’ve had to face our fragility.  In order to keep others safe, we’ve had to give up some freedom.  We’re staying home, keeping apart, wearing masks to avoid sharing our breath, and thereby our germs with each other. We’re not used to depending on ourselves for schooling, food, entertainment, and worship.  In these most trying times, it is clear that we need each other to survive, even with opposing political views, lifestyles and ideology. The sudden change of routines has left many feeling isolated and vulnerable.  Some have fallen to despair and depression.

While I have moments of both, I choose to re-imagine…me.  What if I am complete?  What if I am enough? What if I stop striving and start living? This thinking has energized me in a way nothing else has. I am giving myself permission to be me.  I am going to do the things I want to do in the way I want to do them.  I don’t have to consult the experts – I am the expert. If you can do something better than me, good for you.  I will cheer you on and applaud your success; that is my calling and it gives me joy.

 But for me, I am going to enjoy myself without words, without conversation, without judgement. I am going to be me in the way only I can.  I am going to walk the seasons with the river. There will be sunshine and rain, heat and cold, humidity and dry winds. I will take my place in humanity without apology or arrogance. And it will be enough. And I will let it be.

My White Privilege by Sheri LeClair Banitt

I am reluctant to talk about the ways I experienced 2020. There were so many bad things happening. Covid 19 brought so many changes and challenges. We had a contentious election with a President who brought out the worst in everyone.

And then George Floyd was murdered in broad daylight, on the street, with a crowd watching. This rocked my world. I usually don’t talk about it because I am white and I have not suffered the injustice of racism. I don’t want to trivialize the plight of the oppressed with complaints of my feelings. But if I am going to make a difference, I need to speak.

Digital Storytelling Workshop – Take 2 with Dr. Stacey Patton and Class. By Sheri LeClair Banitt

Last spring I started themillennialboomer blog with no knowledge of how to do it. Shortly thereafter, my daughter told me about an opportunity to take a free class about Digital Storytelling with Dr. Stacey Patton through a link on Dr. Patton’s social media. I responded to the link and was fortunate to get signed up for the class. Learning to be a Digital Media Bawse was fun and empowering! I learned how to use many different digital tools and quickly realized that I need to learn more.

I love to write about whatever is happening in my world. A big part of my world is navigating the workplace as one of the seniors who are not yet ready to retire. I need to work until age 67 if I want my full social security–and I believe it will still be available. I work primarily with millennials and the differences between us add a richness to the work culture in addition to some challenges. See what Ellen DeGeneres has to say about the differences between Baby Boomers and Millennials.

So if I want to attract an audience to hear about my life and my experiences, I need some skills in addition to writing. And that is where this class comes in. I am confident that in ‘Take 2’, I will revisit what I learned last session and gain a greater understanding of how to appeal to the digital world. My goal for this second course is to create a better vlog presence. I did a couple vlog entries with the first class, but they were a bit awkward and amatuer. I can do better.

Like a Bawse!

Christmas at Home, in the Office by Sheri LeClair Banitt

We live in world with many different religions, holidays and traditions. But I am a boomer and I believe in Christmas. Some of my earliest memories are going through the Sears, JC Penney, and Wards Christmas catalogs and circling the toys I wanted Santa to bring. For weeks, my siblings and I perused the catalogs with no thought or reason given to price or quantity, we just circled what we wanted and hoped for the best.

We had a big family dinner on Christmas Eve, alternating between my Grandmother’s house and her sister’s house. It was fun to see the cousins and have a big dinner. But the main attraction for the kids, were the presents under the tree. One of the grown-up men would ‘play Santa’ and pass out the presents that were from grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Everyone got something and there was lots of laughter and fun. When the last present was opened long into the evening, we all headed home to our own houses to wait for Santa to come overnight.

We didn’t have a fireplace, so our stockings hung from the hall doorway. In the early morning, or the night when we woke up, our stocking would be at the foot of our bed. It was filled with candy, an orange, and peanuts in the shell. Our gift from Santa would be there as well. Sometimes we were sure we had heard or seen Santa in the night. It was always a thrill to go from bed to bed to see what our siblings got and to compare our treats. Later, Grandma and Grandpa would come over to see what Santa brought.

There was church too. Sunday school, programs, choir and worship. I appreciate those memories now as an adult. But the kid in me then, and now remembers the thrill of decorating the Christmas tree and the anticipation of ripping the paper and bows off the packages to see what was inside.

It is no surprise then, that I recreated these traditions with my own children. We had most of the same traditions, just new kids and fewer old ones. They were excited but maybe not as much as my generation. Because my generation did not get presents and parties and new clothes and toys for no reason. We got presents for birthdays and Christmas only. New clothes and shoes for back to school, Christmas and Easter only. We had fewer material possessions and spent more time outdoors. New toys and new clothes were a big deal, not just a passing thrill on payday.

Like many boomers, I carry the excitement of Christmas with me today. I go all in the day after Thanksgiving until after New Year’s Day. I have 22 hours of Christmas music in my library, and I’m always adding to it.

I bought my first Christmas Sweater in the late 1980’s. I went to Donaldson’s in St. Paul and bought 3 matching sweater vests; one for me, and one for each of my daughters. We couldn’t afford them, but I needed them. We were adorable that year in our matching vests and long blonde hair with big bangs. That was the beginning of a long run of Christmas sweaters; so common, I don’t even have pictures of them.

I wish I had known they would come back into fashion in the ugly sweater craze. They’re not ugly to me. I love the sweaters with snowmen, Santas, wreaths, bells, reindeer, trees, cookies, stockings and presents. I have spent the last several years collecting some beauties and have always looked forward to wearing them in the office at Christmas along with my very cheerful holiday jewelry and socks.

Now in 2020, I am working from home, by myself, at my desk in the family room. It’s just me and my furry coworkers at the office. But I still need the excitement of the Christmas season. I still need the lights and music and sweaters and jewelry and socks. So I get dressed each morning, ready for the office in my ugly sweater, jingle bell earrings, ornament pin and Santa socks. And I head downstairs to the office.

I stop along the way to have a cup of coffee with my dear one before he heads out to work; he is an essential worker and still goes to work each day. Then I log in to my computer and get started with my day. I hope to be in the actual office next year where I can show off my Christmas outfits. Until then, there is Zoom. Let me know if you’d like to meet for coffee.

What is Optimism? by Sheri LeClair Banitt

Weeks after the U.S. Presidential election, we are still in limbo as we wait for #46 to be named. We have a second waive of coronavirus threatening our healthcare workers and school systems. Many people are out of work and lining up for grocery giveaways. Others feel certain someone is scheming to harm them.

Amid concern for the mental health of our youth and isolated adults, we are tasked with the business of carrying on. No matter how much inconvenience, hardship and heartache we feel, we must continue on with our lives. The way we live will certainly impact the outcome of our difficulties.

I am disturbed by current events and have fallen into despair from time to time. Even so, I choose happiness. I choose joy. I choose to believe that my actions matter and that my actions are formed from my thoughts and feelings. What I think, I believe. What I believe, I do, and what I do becomes my world. I choose optimism.

Optimism appears at the end of the day, when the sun sets and the business of the day is over. Optimism appears in the quiet of the evening routines. I smile when I pick my homegrown Asian Pepper to spice up the chicken soup simmering in the pot. When I pulled the tiny seed from a dried pepper and dropped it into a 2 inch pot of soil, I gave it some water and hoped it would grow. It took no more effort than a few teaspoons of water each week for my seed to grow, bloom, bear fruit and provide me with a delicious reminder that sometimes the best thing you can do is to hope for the best and believe in what you cannot see.