A ‘work thought’ – billionaires, in general, are not good stewards of people or information.

Your workplace had changed. It was no longer the place where you started. There were signs over the past year: a former mentor moving on, a trusted colleague accepting a ‘buy-out’. You stayed. You believed in your mission, gained more time, experience and connections. Now, you perceive you’re on your own, abandoned in a far-flung corner of the world, mid-assignment, holding an incomplete story.

Finish that story. Add it to the portfolio of your dreams. You are the storytellers – the translators of the human experience, the guardians of our culture, defenders of truth.

Take time to mourn your loss. It may be the first chance you’ve had to catch your breath in months, years.

Keep conversations going: continuing and initiating. This is what you do – ask questions, communicate truth and report facts.

Inventory what you enjoyed most about your days. Celebrate the stuff you hated, now erased from your agenda. Take some serious time to consider your dreams. If this temporary situation has sent you to a place where it’s hard to imagine the positive, talk to your friends. Ask them to describe your talents. Listen, transcribe and report.

There are resources out there to help: libraries, college alumni associations and professional associations. Once you have a couple of ideas on next steps, let everyone know. You would be amazed at the extended threads of contacts that emanate from just one. You are the olympians of ‘connecting the dots’.

In a time when we are learning that institutions will not save us, we’re also realizing the power of community.

Journalists are not shy. Ask for help and find your people.