Second Coming of Age

This wrist watch says

CELEBRATE!

reminding me of the time I have left

to celebrate

just being alive

and making the most of it!!

---

First, a poem to the New Year!

~ ~ ~

A New Year

Leafing through

the pages of my life

this murky future


where I have arrived again

with aging hopes

and graying wisdom

whether anyone hears

it or not

this is the sound of me

here and now

in a new year of discovery

of things invisible

yet still possible.

~ ~ ~

A journal sketch to remember

 a toast to 2019

with champagne and flowers.

~ ~ ~

Now, more reflections . . .

In the early 80s, I was in my 40s

 just starting a job at Westinghouse.

I liked working with all our employees,

making them feel valued.

But in 1989, I took a leap of faith

and walked out that corporate door.

I was influenced by reading

 self-help and “New Age” books,

reading about a future of hope and transformation.

I remember a book discussion of:

 The Aquarian Conspiracy

by Marilyn Ferguson.

~ ~ ~

Thus began my

 2nd Coming of Age

I tried making Earth Day Posters, 1990.

(I loved Peter Max drawings!)

~ ~ ~

  

If there's a writing that would sum up

my wild and precious journey it's this:

“Life is very dull

for those too timid,

too unimaginative, too sane

to bring to it

 a sense of personal style,

of individual purpose,

of color,

verve,

fun,

and

excitement.”

— If You Meet the Buddha on the Road, Kill Him.” Sheldon Kopp

=====

The other "exhortation" was from

Joseph Campbell

"Follow Your Bliss"

~ ~ ~

Music and poetry emerged.

Years later

journaling evolved

from this 2nd Coming of Age 

making sketches

to be present to every day of my life!

To savor it all! 

Photo of a 2018 Christmas bouquet.

~ ~ ~

A photo to remember how much I adore

tomato soup and saltines

on a cold, January day,

even though I'd said,

"No more wheat!".

~ ~ ~

I keep my loneliness at bay

 by writing messages from the Universe.

~ ~ ~

On a bad day, I can just flip open

 a journal and sooner or later, I’ll be smiling!

Maybe you will too.

~ ~ ~

And lest I forget my gardening days,

which are pretty much over,

I still have all my best photos

over twenty summers. 

And lest I forget

"THE MUSIC"

I found an old composition

I'd improvised at midnight

while gloomy  . . .  wondering,

“If this were the last day of my life . . .?”

then letting my fingers answer the question.

~ ~ ~

I put the photos and music together and called it

Forever Green and Beautiful

Check it out on this short YouTube Video.

~ ~ ~

Thanks so much

for taking the time to read this blog!!!

~ ~ ~

Scroll down for more posts:

Rainy Day Reflections

Election Day

The Search for Truffle Dust

All Those Journals

What Is Your Perfect Day?

 -- Diary of a Latter Day Eccentric

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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 ~~

RAINY DAY REFLECTIONS

First, a toast to the New Year!

A bouquet of flowers

in a tiny bottle of champagne!

An old friend brought champagne

 and a bouquet of flowers.

I light a candle.

We laugh over adventures

back in the 80s on the island of Cozumel

when a motorbike we rented

caught on fire!

Photos are so wonderful!

A moment in time captured

and preserved forever.

--------

Keeping journals helps me to

not forget my one

wild and precious life and

to be present to every single day!

I can write about a dream,

or a backache or

what I'm grateful for.

(Above: I'm sketching a rock

because of a dream about a small crippled boy

 with a cloth sack of rocks he loved.)

-------

I'm grateful for 

Our Brown High School Newsletter,

(Thank you Sarah and Janie!)

I’m grateful for 

a small circle of friends,

good health, Social Security,

a 1996 car that still runs.

I’m grateful for EarthFare

where I can shop for Organic Food

in this little town, Athens, Ga.,

and the Section called Five Points

which is the best place to live!!!

I'm especially grateful

for a new group called

Wed. Poets,

because I love playing around

 with words, ideas, musical notes,

designs, sketches and

journal writings.

Suddenly a magical phrase

will descend from my unconscious . . .

The long journey

is bittersweet

and strangely delicious

I like that phrase so much

that might be the title

 of the poetic memoir I am writing.

STRANGELY DELICIOUS

~~ a poetic memoir ~~

~ ~ ~

And just recently I realized

the character of Vera Marlowe

in the musical, Silent Dreams

was even more Mother

 than I’d thought earlier,

so I have brought her to life

 and renamed Mother's old photo

"Vera Marlowe in the 30s."

(Vera Marlowe (aka Mother)

All my mother said about this photo was:

“Oh, that was when I went to New York.”

I only recently discovered

 that boats regularly sailed

 from Savannah, Ga., to New York City!

How I wish I could have heard

 some stories about it,

or Mother's earlier marriage!

So maybe that’s how my imagination

has come to fill in the blanks

and develop parts of the plot

for Silent Dreams. 

~ ~ ~ 

And even if it’s never produced

the Silent Dreams Overture I composed

 with the theme of eight songs 

is now on YouTube

check it out.

(CLICK TO VIEW - 6 MIN.)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Thank you so much

 for taking the time

to read this blog!

~ ~ ~ ~

Scroll down for more posts:

Election Day

The Search for Truffle Dust

All Those Journals

What Is Your Perfect Day?

Diary of a Latter Day Eccentric

——