[Special Contribution] A Message from Nancy Schlossberg, Pioneer of Transition Theory: Announcement of JCDA Blog Publication
Hello. This is the official note of the Japan Career Development Association (JCDA). Thank you for your continued readership.
In this post, we are pleased to announce the publication of a JCDA Blog article based on a message sent to JCDA Board Chair Sasaki from Nancy Schlossberg, the pioneer of transition theory.
The article introduces an energetic message from the 96-year-old professor, as well as the concept she has been emphasizing recently: "mattering" (the feeling that you are a person of value). Please take a look.
▼ [Special Contribution] A Message from Nancy Schlossberg, Pioneer of Transition Theory: "Mattering" in the Age of Longevity — A Question She Continues to Ask at 96
Two sentiments come through in this article.
The sentiment of Nancy Schlossberg, who continues to update her inquiries even at 96, and the sentiment of Board Chair Yoshimi Sasaki as a writer, who seeks to pass those words on to the present moment within the context of career support in Japan.
After encountering both, I felt compelled to share my own thoughts.
I felt that the phrase "no longer feeling you matter," as discussed by Professor Schlossberg, is a question that transcends the specific phase of retirement and applies to any situation where roles or titles are shaken. The "paradox of freedom" she points out—facing the feeling of "perhaps I am no longer needed" at a milestone where one should have gained freedom—is something that certainly exists at the feet of us who are involved in career support.
What left an impression on me was that the professor herself, facing the major transition of changes in her physical condition, honestly looks at the fact that she "can no longer do things as she once did," yet writes that "nevertheless, I want to contribute to this world (make a difference)." She neither discards the self that can no longer do things, nor does she romanticize it; she accepts the current reality and continues to seek ways to engage. I believe that this very stance is what it means to live out "mattering."
Furthermore, I felt that Board Chair Sasaki's stance was reflected in the way these messages were carefully woven into Japanese and delivered along with their background and context. The description in the editor's note of her original experience encountering the 4S model 17 years ago, and her own realization that she is at a life transition in terms of age, can be taken not as an explanation of theory, but as a sincere account of her motivation for writing this piece.
The phrase "theory is alive" is also likely not an evaluation or summary, but a realization that emerged from her own current position. The very attitude of reading the words of a 96-year-old researcher not as a "past theory," but as something that illuminates the "time to come," colors this entire piece.
The "mattering" (the feeling that you are a person of value) that the professor teaches is not something proven by special achievements or roles, but a feeling that is repeatedly confirmed through concrete interactions with others or society.
I was able to receive this through Professor Schlossberg's contribution and Board Chair Sasaki's narrative surrounding it.
What is in my heart now is not an "answer".
It is a "thought" that I, too, want to hold onto the question: where and in what kind of interactions do I feel that I matter in my current life?
It was a wonderful blog that leaves such room for reflection.
▼ Click here for the full article
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