Where Am I Going?
I have been asked where is this blog taking me.
That is a question I have been asking myself. Where do I want it to go?
I truly am at a crossroads. I started this ten years ago as I was approaching a milestone birthday. I wanted to convince myself and others that it is never to late to live your best life. Now ten years later as I approach another decade I could easily say mission accomplished. It has been a great ten years.
I had a grand adventure along the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, Several river cruises in Europe, cruise through the Panama Canal, the Mediterranean and two to Alaska cruises. And in the meantime I continue to build a profitable business.
Today I was asked when I planned to stop working.
My immediate answer was that I don’t work. Because the pandemic and remote working, I “work” from my recliner looking out at the water.
Why do I need to stop?
Now I am at a true turning point.
I have been writing about enjoying your seventies. Now that I am approaching that next decade (the one I cannot bring myself to name, yet) what is next?
Do I rename this blog?
Do I need to?
Someone suggested that the best name might just be my own name.
That is an interesting idea. In my mind at this time that seems somewhat aggrandizing.
People like catchy names, don’t they? What does just calling it by my name tell you.
Back to why. Why am I still doing this? I do it because I am still here. I still have something to offer. I still want to. Inspire, amuse and entertain. Do you want to be inspired, amused and entertained by an octogenarian?
Do you still admire Betty White, Tina Turner, Jane Fonda etc. etc. Don’t they still have something to share with us?
No, I won’t compare myself to those grand ladies. But I am still here and I will continue reinventing myself.
Where am I going? Stay tuned.
A Boxing Match Births a Career
It’s never too late to begin again. This has been my mantra for a long time. Maybe it’s because I have often wanted to begin again.
The most important challenge to begin again was when I decided to go to law school at 50.
I have always wanted to be a lawyer but, you know, I was a girl. I became a teacher and actually put a husband through law school. I had the vicarious experience and always hoped I could have the real experience.
I did well in law school, and I passed the California bar my first try.
When I was sworn into the bar, I was certain I wanted to be on my own.
But what kind of law could I do as a brand new 55 year old lawyer. I tried many things but my calling appeared in a most unusual way. The career I would pursue for the next 25 years came about, as most things in my life, by sheer happenstance.
At the time, I actually had a man in my life who was very supportive through this period. He told me we had been invited to a barbecue. Sounds fun. When we got to the driveway, he confesses that it was not a barbecue but rather we were there to watch a boxing match. He said that he knew I wouldn’t want to come if I knew that.
You got that right.
While the boys were in the TV room I sat at the bar. I engaged in conversation with a nice young man and when he found out I was a lawyer, he told me about his girlfriend who was in the middle of a divorce.
She cried all the time because she was not able to see her child. He asked me if I could help her? Of course, I could. Never mind that I knew nothing about family law, and to make it even better, the case was in Sacramento- a long way from Orange County.
I call this the incident when I was too stupid to know I couldn’t do it. I used the same negotiation skills that I used for for previous cases. I called the husband’s attorney and ultimately we resolved the case. I talked to that lawyer years later and we laughed about how little I knew. But I had a happy client who paid me $1500, and my family law career was born.
I always say that I did not choose family law, it chose me.
BTW that was the boxing match that lasted only a few minutes as one of the boxers bit the other’s ear off. I guess a lot of people remember that match. I remember it for different reasons.
So through one more happenstance, I began my career as a family law attorney. And Twenty five years, I am still here.
I often find myself counseling my clients that they could have a fulfilling life, they could begin again.
Find your best life at any age. That is the message I hope to impart.
Why a Blog?
For almost a year I’ve talked about resuming this blog which I started ten years ago as I was facing turning 70. For some time I was consistent. Then it was off and on. As I was facing the end of my seventies, I had a strong desire to document my slide towards, gasp, eighty. Octogenarian.
Will I have to change the name of the blog? Well, I’ll face that when I get there. In the meantime I worked on my memoir. That’s writing isn’t it?
One would think that being isolated during pandemic would be a time I would certainly get a lot of writing done. I did not. I also did not make bread, learn a foreign language or read the stack of books I intended to read. As my friends and I concluded: We survived.
Now I’m coming into the final stretch. Less than two months and I still haven’t begun. Then magic happened. A friend shared an opportunity for a 21 day day blog challenge one day before it was to begin. So here I am.
Day one.
Instead of one blog a week, I am challenged to one a day. That should
make up for the missing weeks.
Why a blog?
I was recently challenged with that question by a friend. What is it driving me? What do I hope to accomplish? I’m aware that blogs are pretty old school. Now it’s U Tube, Facebook live, Instagram, Tim Tok and podcasts and probably a dozen other outlets. But I am a reader and a writer.
I like the words on a page. I like to think about what I want to write and I like that I can go back to replace a word a line. So blog I will.
What is my purpose?
I want to inspire and I want to entertain. I want to be funny and serious. A serious message served with humor? Self deprecating humor can be very effective. I started this blog to show that turning seventy does not mean you can’t continue striving, setting goals, and even start a new
career or hobby. I truly believe it’s never too late to begin again. Your best life at any age is my tag line.
Is this still true for octogenarians? I like that word, Octogenarian. I’ve been reading about keeping your brain sharp and want to send that message. While some octogenarians are still running marathons and
climbing mountains, that’s probably not for me. I’ll take on the mental challenges and leave the physical challenges to others. I am looking forward to seeing where the thirty day challenge will take me.
Does it matter if anyone reads it? Of course it does, but I can’t let it stop me from carrying on. A friend has been writing a blog and shared recently how it feels really good when someone tells her that they
have read her pieces. I agree with her.
Stay tuned. I hope you keep reading.
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Karin Quirk