Nashville Author Carol Orsborn Knows The Value of Empathy-- And Wants To Help YOU Reform American Health Care

Yesterday USAToday published an OpEd by my old boss, author Carol Orsborn, This Labor Day, Give Unemployed A Needed Lift. As she does in her 16 books, Carol focuses on person to person interactions as a basis for solving the problems that plague society and mankind.

In view of the continuing challenges to our economy, I propose that some adjustments to Labor Day be made this year. Next week's holiday should be a "Downsized Labor Day." Sure, we can honor those who are still employed, but more important, let's focus on those still looking for work.

Let's take it one step further: Those who are employed should commit to do one thing next week for those who have lost their job: return their call, help them make a networking connection or invite them to lunch... USA Today reports that my generation of Boomer men and women older than 55 has the highest jobless rates since the Great Depression, and unemployment remains high among all age groups. One of my friends, laid off after 20 years, bemoans the fact that there are no photos of 1930s-style soup lines, or dignified but ragged apple and pencil street vendors to put a face to today's headlines. The downsized worker disappears into the cracks of the virtual world of unemployment statistics, one of every 10 of us rendered invisible by a stock market that seems to shrug off our vast numbers.

...This Downsized Labor Day, you don't need to have the perfect (or any!) job to know that you are respected and valued. And when it comes to helping the job hunter, know that anything you can offer-- even if it's just a hanky and a cup of tea-- will be real cause for celebration.

Carol is offering another cause for celebration to supporters of Blue America's Standing Up For The Public Option campaign. The 65 members of Congress on that list have been working to make sure there is real health care reform rather than another corporate giveaway. Carol sent us half a dozen autographed copies of two of her mostly highly acclaimed books, The Silver Pearl, a virtual life coach, providing inspiration, instructive stories and practical guidance to Boomer women on everything from parenting adult children to life purpose and more, and The Year I Saved My (downsized) Soul: A Boomer Woman's Search for Meaning...and a Job, which chronicles a tumultuous year in the life of a marketing executive, downsized from her corporate job, who, along the way assesses the state of her soul and ultimately embraces both the despair and delight of what it means to be fully alive.

Everyone who donates today-- whether one dollar or $1,000-- will have their name placed in a hate and 6 will win copies of one of Carol's books. Good cause/good books. Donate here.