By Amy Mazur

Dear Mike:

After working with you for the past ten months, I wanted to summarize where I think we’ve come together in your career planning and management process.
You initially came in to see me to help you clarify your career direction. You had been working in the technology and software development field for 30 years, and you’d had a good run. You had made a comfortable living, challenged your mind, and had provided well for your family. That last factor was a particularly tricky one for you as you thought about the next steps you wanted to take. While there were aspects of the work you enjoyed over the years, you did not identify yourself wholly as a software engineer. You were actually an artist: a musician, a collage creator, and a man with a curious mind. You had been living what you thought was the right path, and you managed. But something was missing, and when the technology field shifted from engineering to web programming, and the workplace became more isolating and less social for you, you noticed that “just managing” was not enough. The 30 years of “just managing” had in fact taken a toll, diminished you in some way. Now was your chance to reclaim your identity.

Who are you Mike? A funny, smart musician who travels to a different and wonderful place when you are with your music. A caring father, who raised two pretty cool kids, a husband who struggles to communicate like so many others whose marriages have withstood many challenges. A great guy who deserves to say to himself that he is worthy of whatever choice he makes vocationally or avocationally, as long as he continues to trust what he knows about himself, and as long as he continues to communicate with the meaningful people in his life.

As you put music back in your life as a cornerstone and continue to make meaning out of the next phase of your life, I wish you continued satisfaction and success on your own terms.