If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
The Blog
I once met a man who said he wanted desperately to be a songwriter but "unfortunately, I have a family in Oklahoma to support so it is NEVER going to happen." He said it with such bitterness that I felt so sad for that family. Don't people know that if there's something you want to do with your life, there's no reason you can't find a way to do it on some level?
Knowing my dad -- acerbic, impatient, with an economy of words that seemed to mark his Italian-American "tough guy" image -- I did not expect what he told me next.
I now consider myself the modern 60. I would like to get the word out to the advertising world that we are strong, vital and confident.
Too much time in front of a computer screen robs boys from developing the social and physical interaction skills required to relate to people in general, and women in particular.
In a new world of elongated lives and career fluidity, we need to have patience -- with ourselves. That was perhaps the most poignant and startling point articulated by a panel on "Second Careers, Doing Good" held last weekend at my Yale college reunion.
Gray Panthers' founder Maggie Kuhn noted, "Another wrong and cruel myth is that old age is sexless. I can tell you that it's not that way. Sex need not wither. In fact, it may take a whole new turn. Indeed, it ought to be flourishing right up to rigor mortis!"
It's time to consider the rewards and the upside to pursuing your dreams... and be specific about what you can do to accomplish your goals.
Music kept us strong through personal adversities, and we even used music at the funerals of our loved ones, too many now to mention. I myself heard "Celebrate Me Home" at my own brother's funeral; a moment I never could have anticipated nor will ever forget.
Several weeks ago, someone unearthed -- and sent to me -- the notes from an interview I had conducted with Gray Panthers founder Maggie Kuhn back in 1978. As I re-read her prophecies, I was stunned both by her clarity of vision and the accuracy of her forecasts -- made nearly 35 years ago.
Maybe the real issue with learning how to reinvent oneself is the simple fact we really don't know how we formed our identity in the first place.
Renowned for his storied career in soul and R&B;, Lionel Richie recently released an ode to his southern roots "Tuskegee" -- named for his hometown in Alabama. The Huffington Post caught up with Richie to find out what it's like to be back at the top of the charts at age 62.
In a very real way, we're all graduates of the school of life and we all have the opportunity to continue to grow and contribute. So here's my commencement address for all of us approaching or inhabiting middle age and wondering what's next?
I moved to Nashville in 1992 and stood in line at the famous Bluebird Café to sing one verse and chorus of a song for a panel of judges. If it goes well, you are asked to come back to play three songs several months later. The results would come in a letter a few weeks later.
After his wife of 36 years died of breast cancer, Paul Stuzman, 57, spent 138 days hiking 2,176 miles along the Appalachian trail. He tells the story in Hiking Through: One Man's Journey to Peace and Freedom on the Appalachian Trail.
At mid-life, our favorite songs compile quite the anthology, from the music that played at our high school prom to the first dance at our wedding.
By taking time away from our routines, we were able to reevaluate what was working for us and what was not. We learned that there is so much more to life than we ever imagined.
