Navigating Transitions for Women: Finding New Calling and Purpose

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Square Two

Volume

11

Issue

2

Publisher

Square Two

Publication Date

6-1-2018

Abstract

Through the years, I have had hundreds of LDS women talk to me about feeling lost—lost in terms of their direction in life. Most have testimonies of the Gospel and serve faithfully in Church callings, but many of these sisters are going through transitions in life and feel a “void” that they often struggle to describe. For example, some have transitioned into first marriages and others into second marriages. Some are navigating the transition of becoming stay-at-home mothers after the birth of a child, while others have recently experienced their youngest child entering first grade, middle school, or high school. Some sisters have recently become empty nesters and have never experienced being home in such a “quiet house.” Many women have worked part-time for years and are transitioning into full-time work, while others are considering going “back to work” part-time or full-time after being homemakers. In addition, many Utah women struggle as they return to college after a significant break, to deal with the complexity around divorce, or to cope with the illness or death of a spouse. I’ve also met sisters who are retiring after a lifetime of both raising family and having paid employment. And a few of them have told me they now have little interest in cooking, doing crafts, and cleaning house all day.

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