About

My apologies to great questions for small answers.
– Wislawa Szymborska, “Under One Small Star”

Small Answers is a place for thinking about career and life choices.

Career identity has taken on tremendous importance in the current working world. This can be great for helping us focus on making meaningful work choices, and it can also leave people feeling unsatisfied with their options and the decisions they’ve made. School trains us to think by subject (are you a biology major or American Studies?) and to strive for major accomplishments. Yet this framework doesn’t apply when trying to create a fulfilling career. Finding a good job – to say nothing of a dream job – is already tough. What about creating a satisfying career… and not just career, but a life?

This site explores our ideas about the different pieces that compose that life. We try to be hopeful realists. We want to find satisfaction in what is good (or, even better, very good) rather than constantly reaching for what is perfect. Sometimes this is by trying new things. Sometimes it’s by trying old things in new ways. Personal experience has shown us the changes that appear rather small from the outside can have profound and lasting impacts.

If you’re new to Small Answers, start here with some of our favorite posts:

Who are we?

This site is run by Leda and Steph. We’ve been friends for over 25 years and share an enthusiasm for sloppy craft projects, pseudo self-psychology, doodling, and writing. Leda studied comparative literature and works in landscape and urban forestry, and Steph studied biology and fine art and works in coaching and mindfulness training.

In the spring of 2012, struggling with some of our own work dilemmas, we formed a career group composed of twelve other women. In one of those miraculous happenings, it became more than the sum of its parts. We meet once a month to talk about various work-related topics and debate personal and professional challenges. We have helped each other rethink our own assumptions about our jobs and careers, consider changes, initiate hard conversations, and confront ourselves, sometimes with hard truths.

We’re not perfect, and we certainly don’t have all the answers (not even the small ones). What we do have are years and years of our own experiences, the observations of friends, colleagues, partners, and parents, and the desire and willingness to try doing things differently. We have also read books – so many books!

Our writing has appeared on The Billfold, The Hairpin, The Daily Muse, Next City, Earth in Transition, and Green Infrastructure for Your Community. Posts on Small Answers go up every Monday at 9am.

While we are the primary authors of the blog, we aren’t the only contributors! Make sure to note the author name on each post. If you are interested in contributing, please see our guidelines.

Contact Us

For pitches, please see our Contribute page.
For everything else, email us at contact@smallanswers.us.

Want to borrow our work?

We’re glad you like our writing! However, unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Small Answers with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. Aren’t sure your excerpt is kosher? Reach out to us at contact@smallanswers.us to ask and chances are good we’ll feel fine about it.