All we know about the woman in this photograph is that she was 80 years old in November, 1936, when Dorothea Lange took her picture, and at the time she was living in a camp for migrant workers outside Bakersfield, California.
If we think of her in the context of the times, we can deduce that she and her family were probably among the thousands of farmers forced to migrate from the Oklahoma Dust Bowl to California in search of work. This would mean that she had been enduring dislocation and acute poverty for some time.
Yet the old woman’s look is strong and her demeanor is positive. The shadow from the hand that shields her eyes from the bright sunlight obscures much of her face, but we can see enough to know that she is looking straight ahead and determined to keeping moving forward.
Everything about her embodies the courage expressed in the philosophy of life she shared with Lange in a brief dialogue just before the picture was taken. "If you lose your pluck," she said, "you lose the most there is in you—all you’ve got to live with."
SUSTAINING EACH OTHER
On the road and within their encampments, the Okies kept going by helping each other out. There is a scrap of writing that Lange found in the Imperial Valley in 1935 that reads:
Hooverville 2 year wintered here
If they’s been a cross word
I haven’t hear it. When one has
they all has. I can’t explain—
Each and every one has sympathy
for the other cause they’ve all been
the same
Like the woman in Lange’s photograph, it is critical that, no matter what our circumstances are, we have the pluck not to sell ourselves short by failing to take on the task of creating the vision of a better life for ourselves and working toward realizing that vision in incremental steps.
"Their culture required mutual help and generosity, no matter how severe their deprivation," writes Lange’s biographer, Linda Gordon, in Dorothea Lange: A Life Beyond Limits. Through their losses the migrant workers rediscovered a basic code of human kindness that helped them sustain the pluck in each other.
I like to imagine the influence this old woman had on the young mothers in the camp, how her very presence helped them get through each day, and how in turn they motivated her to keep going. They needed each other.
It reminds me of the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955, the first big demonstration in what would later become the Civil Rights movement. The people walking, in some cases miles, to work were sustained by the perseverance of one of the oldest members of the community, a woman known to everyone as Mother Pollard. When the movement’s leaders were having their doubts about the wisdom of continuing the boycott, her plucky refusal to accept rides and her insistence on walking restored their flagging resolve. Her words became a rallying cry for the movement. "My feets is tired, but my soul is rested," she said prophetically.
OUR GREAT RECESSION
Now, as we enter the second year of what is being called the "Great Recession" (in order not to evoke images of the Great Depression), the collapse of whole industries like publishing, construction, real estate, where people have made a good living for years, is a monumental change like the distress of farmers whose livelihood was stripped away by soil depletion, drought, and dust storms in the 1930s.
Yet, unlike the migrant workers of the 1930s, today’s displaced professionals have a wide range of options—as long as they are willing to do the courageous work of recreating themselves.
We no longer live in a culture where generation after generation is restricted to the trade they were born into. We now have the opportunity, as well as the access to education and support, to put together alternative ways of making a living and achieving professional fulfillment.
There is a marked difference between doing what you have to do to pay the mortgage and keep food in the refrigerator, and giving in to the downward spiral of feeling like, "This is all there is and all there will be in my future."
Like the woman in Lange’s photograph, it is critical that, no matter what our circumstances are, we have the pluck not to sell ourselves short by failing to take on the task of creating the vision of a better life for ourselves and working toward realizing that vision in incremental steps.
Yes, it may be necessary temporarily to find work which is less rewarding, financially and professionally, than we would like, but that does not mean we have to resign ourselves permanently to it.
One of my clients was laid off from a job which he had found lifeless for years—he admitted to me that the only thing fulfilling about it had been the paycheck.
In our work together he began to take actions toward a career in nursing and human services because he loved the idea of helping people.
Now, faced with the end of his unemployment checks, his challenge is to find the pluck within himself to keep moving forward on his plan, while at the same time doing whatever temporary work he can find to contribute to his family’s income.
As part of his overall strategy, temporary work is a means to an end, not a dead end.
Thanks Beverly! I really need this today.
I too look at my layoff as the chance to pursue a new career, one in elder services. Online courses at UMASS Boston and a part time job in elder services are allowing me to keep moving toward my goal. While I may not find the perfect fit immediately, I am fortunate to be able to continue to head towards my objective. When the right position opens up, I will have training and experience on my resume. A note of caution to others on unemployment. When it comes time to refile for another year of unemployment benefits, a part time job may disqualify you. Who know the benefits would continue to be extended?
From Merriam-Webster… Pluck: “courageous readiness to fight or continue against odds; dogged resolution”
I’ve never known you during a time when *you* needed “pluck,” but I would have been proud to stand next to you.
Thanks for the inspiration.
For those of us in the profession who follow you, kudos to you. You’ve once again told it like it is! All too often, career professionals focus on the tools or tactics to employ to keep you buoyed up in your search. You reached to the heart of it. Very appropriate story and photo by Dorothea Lange about the ‘survival at all costs’ people and movement during the Depression. Your story really illustrates how persistence resides at the core of making it through adversity to the other side. You’ve blended both the gritty reality of facing daily struggles with the positive outcomes we can experience if we create a vision and have the ‘pluck’ to work incrementally toward our goals.
Once again, a great message for all of us!
Pluck. Well that’s just the thing, isn’t it? It’s the character trait we must draw on (or fabricate) to keep believing in (and promoting) ourselves, our creative work, our professional services, our businesses, our bright idea. Pluck – so we can keep putting ourselves out there, even tho’ the rewards for our efforts may be deferred.
What a lovely reminder Bev. Thank you. (And congratulations on your new website & blog!)
A most welcome message in unpredictable economic times! I like that you acknowledge the stresses, the hardships, and the temporary fixes that may be needed in such times, with a focus on what sustains us through them–relying on one another, and on ourselves. It brought to mind some other inspiring, intangible qualities to cultivate: moxie and chutzpah. They may be close relatives of pluck.
Thanks for the realistic and encouraging message.
A most welcome message in unpredictable economic times! I like that you acknowledge the stresses, the hardships, and the temporary fixes that may be needed in such times, with a focus on what sustains us through them–relying on one another, and on ourselves. It brought to mind some other inspiring, intangible qualities to cultivate: moxie and chutzpah. They may be close relatives of pluck.
Thanks for the realistic and encouraging message.
great post as usual!