I’m a middle age woman who has just switched careers at 45. It’s terrifying.
I worked in media for close to twenty years. I got up at 3:30am, arrived at work to read news headlines, celebrity gossip and stories from around the world before going on air at 5:30. I’d do a morning show until 10 and then fill the rest of the morning with emails, interviews, meetings and promotions. It was fun and I liked it.
But the early mornings were taking a toll and my six year old daughter would ask me every night if I’d be there when she woke up. I could never answer ‘yes.’
Then last July the wild fires out west blocked the summer sun. I wanted to talk about it, but no one wants to hear that as they drive the 400 to work, coffee in hand. It’s depressing. My job, most often, was to bring a smile to people’s faces. I felt like the violinists playing while The Titanic went down.
“Next up, a band coming to Casino Rama. Also, it smells like BBQ outside.”
It rankled.
I’ve left the media industry and have recently started at The Couchiching Conservancy. It’s acquires land through financial and property donations to ensure certain areas stay undeveloped forever. It protects forests, grasslands and wetlands, which in turn protects habitats and species. I’ll learn an astronomical amount about an area I’ve always been passionate about, but have no formal training in.
But I’m in charge of the printer.
At my last job we printed sheets of paper with a bold black stripe in the centre of each page for three months. So many people worked from home, no one knew how, or even to, change the toner. Now, as an office coordinator, this is my responsibility. I’m not qualified. Every time someone says “What’s wrong with the printer?” my stomach plummets.
It is terrifying to join a room of young professionals as one of the oldest in the room at the bottom of the ladder. But I’ve learned to identify the call of a Great Crested Flycatcher and every day in August I would count the Monarch chrysalises hanging from the storage shed. From my office window at Grant’s Woods, I can see birds eating seeds from Goldenrod plants. My job now is to help preserve some of the oldest trees in Southern Ontario at Grant’s Woods and the 56 other properties The Couchiching Conservancy stewards in and around Orillia.
It’s said if you want to learn, never be the smartest in the room. Join me as I learn this repeatedly, every day, but create a life that aligns with my personal values.
move-from-radio-to-couchiching-conservancy-a-wild-ride-9741788 Matters:
Meg Whitton was the morning show host of Bounce Radio but is now at The Couchiching Conservancy, a non-profit land trust protecting nature for future generations