In 2007, when I was 57, I wondered what the hell I was doing with my life, so I read a book I bought my husband years ago — Zen and the Art of Making a Living — and realized I wanted to write songs. It seemed to suit me, according to the book and my mind at that time. I still agree with — and have — that determination.
However, I'm not a fool, and I'm not even a singer or musician. I'm a novice competing against a million singer/songwriters. The odds are against me blah blah blah. But I don't care! I'm still running against the wind, because it's what I want to do and it's fun.
Now, a mere two years later, I've learned that it was the beginning of looking ahead to the end rather than looking back to the beginning. This is a good thing, because it signals a turning point. When my mother died in 2003, I was suddenly looking back all the time, for the past several years. Sadness, of course. Regrets, sure. Too many to mention, and not the point.
The point is now, about to turn 60, I understand mortality in a more than intellectual way. I can see the end of me. I sure as hell don't want it, and I will resist it until it is forced upon me, but there it is...ahead. And I've decided to live the next 40 years (yeah, yeah, I know; just humor me on this) differently from the last 40...even though they've been great. I feel like a grown-up for the first time, weird as that sounds.
I don't know exactly what that means in all ways; that's the adventure. I'll let you know as I discover the meaning and the changes I will make. But one of them is to do my writing of rhyme in various ways. And so I have started that long, bumpy ride to the end, still changing, still learning, still hoping.
Life Is Short
Life is short.
You live; you die.
You laugh; you cry.
You sing; you sigh.
You swear to truth
And tell a lie.
Things go awry;
You wonder why.
You fly so high;
Eat humble pie.
You live; you die.
Hello. Good-bye.
Hey sister - love it! Thanks for including us so we can stay in tune! It's only a matter of time before something good comes your way. You work so hard at it it has to be inevitable! Love you!
ReplyDeleteThree old men on the golf course,
ReplyDelete(Each had trouble hearing well)
Were playing a round on a breezy day,
When one blew over and fell.
"Windy, isn't it?" said one of them,
While helping the other to rise.
"No, it's Thursday," said the second man.
And they walked off to exercise.
The third man had listened intently;
Now he chimed in, with good cheer;
As he followed the others, he called out,
"So am I. Let's have a beer!"