Single Working Womens Week – SWWAN

Yep. Down there on Route 66 is a one-stoplight town where all the elected officials are women. They’re doing it–like women all over the world–because it needed to be done. The city was falling apart.

So what if the population is 830. It’s a start.

That’s what they’re saying it will take to have a comfortable retirement–ten to twelve times the salary you’re making. Reporter Martha M. Hamilton says the statistics are woeful when it comes to those who’ve saved enough. But then she goes on to describe a report on the “average” baby boomers’ retirement readiness::

“Another survey showed that workers on the leading edge of the baby boom have made progress in preparing for retirement. MetLife’s Mature Market Institute surveyed 1,000 folks who are turning 62 in 2008 and found that their net worth (excluding home value) averaged $257,800. Their average annual income was about $71,400.”

Wonder who the 1000 people were that MetLife surveyed for this report–and how many of them were single working women (a segment which is–in case we forgot–now 51% of all women in the U.S.).

Since I moved to Chicago and we started SWWAN, I have met many wonderful, dynamic passionate women. And with several of these cool ladies I've been able to begin the long and enriching process of building a friendship.

Last night two of my new, single-women friends had a few minutes to spare while they were in the neighborhood. I was delighted to invite them over for a glass of wine–and realized again how precious it is to share one's home and one's efforts towards festivity with others.

If you're one of the single people who tends to go visiting at the holidays rather than have people over, why not start a new tradition of your own? Decorate to your taste and invite a friend or two over to enjoy it with you.

And I highly recommend you get one of those "roaring fire" videos if you don't have a real fireplace. It is truly comforting to have the firelight–be sure to get one that actually burns the wood. You won't see a whole lot of change, but it's enough to feel like you've got something really happening.

Heck, I haven't turned on the TV since I got mine. That's pretty cool.

Yes, I just experienced it. There is an upside to being single at Christmas time. And learning to do Christmas a little differently is just one piece.

It's the first time in 33 years that I won't be in Cleveland for this most precious holiday, but I've just enjoyed a beautiful early Christmas with my daughter and son-in-law here in their warm and welcoming home in Shaker Heights, Ohio.

The upside of being single at this time of year is that you get to really focus on the loved ones in your life. Can spend a little extra time being together–doing things like baking Christmas cookies, decorating and enjoying music.

So now I return home and get ready to celebrate in another city and with yet another set of traditions. Maybe I'll even create a couple of new ones of my own. Sitting by my roaring fire (smokeless and troublefree on the DVD I got for Christmas!) and listening to my XM classical Christmas music is a good setting for imagining some magical new traditions into existence.

It's great to go out and enjoy the season's decorations. Sitting at Nighttown—one of Cleveland's venerable restaurants that's been through several lifetimes. It is a story of success in the hard world of food service. With each rebirth it has preserved certain items that proved successful through all.

And it's very pretty, with its walls full of old-time drawings and photographs lined now with greens and the ubiquitous white minilight strings.

I'm early…will be seeing some friends I haven't seen in a few months. And it'll be great to see them, but I can't wait to get back to my daughter and son-in-law's beautiful old Shaker Heights home and help them decorate their tree.

When it comes to Christmas, ruby slippers or not, there's just no place like home and family.

If you ever feel bad (and who doesn't?) about having to leave your little one to go to work, you should watch this program about the life of penguins that I'm watching on Animal Planet TV–it’s The March of the Penguins.

I have seen lots of programs about penguins, but never one so attentive to the details of their existence and so sensitive to the dilemmas of their lifestyle. All I can think is, what was God thinking to make these creatures’ lives so hard? Now, clearly God knows what He's doing, so that seems like a crazy question. But maybe it's just this–that we human beings who struggle with our parenting issues can look at these valiant animal models and feel that we don't have it so bad after all.

I hope you'll have an opportunity to watch this soulful look at one of mother Nature's most extraordinary life stories. It's enlightening and inspiring.

Wow. Imagine finding single women all over the place who admit that life can be pretty tough but that they really are happy being single. AARP can reach a lot of people with its massive member base, so when they report on The Secret Lives of Single Women, it’s worth hearing.

Talk about prejudice. Listen to a researcher found 950 college students describing married people–“happy, loving, secure, stable, and kind.” Their words for singles were more like “lonely, shy, unhappy, insecure, inflexible, and stubborn.” Good grief. Does that sound like you? I’m pretty sure nobody I know would describe me that way! But then, we’re talking about “knowing” someone versus guessing what people you don’t know might be like. A different ballgame–and therein lies the rub.

Love this myth buster: “Myth #10 Single women aren’t as healthy as married women.
Reality: Generally true, but now single women are taking charge of their health just as they’re taking control of other parts of their lives.For decades health researchers have consistently found that married women are healthier than single women. But the most negative health outcomes for women have been associated with those who are divorced or widowed. Very little attention has been paid to the long-term health outcomes of women who are contentedly single. One surprising finding to come out of the AARP Foundation women’s survey, however, is that single women tend to think of themselves as healthy—46 percent said their health is excellent or very good (emphasis mine–what do we know about the power of the mind over the body???). In addition, 90 percent of the single women in the study said they’re very or somewhat confident that they’re doing all they can to keep themselves healthy. “These findings seem promising,” says Jean Kalata, AARP research analyst and principal researcher for the AARP Foundation women’s study, “but we need more research into single women and the effects of happiness on health.”

Anyway, if you have a few minutes, read the report. It’s fun to hear such good things about single working women!

Just wrote a couple of new book reviews for our SWWAN book/movie review page (www.swwan.org/mind_food/read_reviews.htm). Seems like a good thing to do at night when your brain is fried from a long day. It's always nice to remember what you enjoyed about reading a particular book.

We're working on getting some automated functionality set up so YOU can enter your own book and movie reviews on our website. Anybody know a friend or colleague with programming skills who'd like to help out single working women? If you know of some possible folks, please chat with them and/or send us their names. We'll gladly give that person credit and a spotlight on our website