Any Shiny Thing - Life after 50

Midlife Fiction

A Quick Thank You

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To all my friends out there in AnyShinyThingLand, I just received word of my seventy-first subscriber to this blog. Whenever I am notified of a new subscriber, I want to reach out and send you an email saying:

Welcome! Please visit often and comment. Looking forward to hearing from you.

But I don’t know if that would violate your privacy. Some people like to hover below the radar, and I respect that. So I don’t send confirmation or “howdy!” emails.

Still, I want you all to know that I’m honored and thrilled that you are interested enough to get blog posts delivered to your inbox every Friday. I’ll do my best to entertain, inspire and amuse you. I hope you’ll comment back, too, so we can find out what our little community is thinking. Some mornings we’re like a hive of over-caffeinated bees, others like somebody forgot to set the alarm. ZZZZZ. But It’s all good. Just come and hang out.

Can’t wait to hear from you.

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Where Are All the Stories about Older Women?

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When Marla Miller, teacher, media whiz and mentor, heard me squawking about the dearth of movies and novels featuring mature women, she asked me to do a video rant about it. I did, and it’s called Why Am I Talking to YOU?

It was my first ever YouTube video and I’m so excited, because it forced me to learn a new skill, one that will be helpful as I market my books. Of course, in the couple of days I experimented with backdrop, lighting, clothing, makeup and script, I wasn’t actually writing, unfortunately. But now that I know those things, any future videos will be done more quickly.

Marla’s blog is called Women over 45: SPEAK! You will love it. Check it out. Maybe you have an issue you’d like to talk about. It’s a great forum for women to be heard.

About one minute after I posted that video, I found out about a stellar new work about an older woman, the fantastic new novel by Ann Patchett entitled State of Wonder.

It features two strong women in the lead roles, one of whom is older. The reviewer suggested Helen Mirren or Meryl Streep should hustle to option the script right now. The book is supposed to be Patchett’s very best, even better than Bel Canto if you can imagine that! You can read the review here. I just received my copy and I’m savoring the opening chapters. Just awesome. The setting, the conflicts, the premise, the adventure to come – and none of this is belabored. Patchett isn’t just a gifted writer, she’s a gifted writing instructor. The story is unfolding cinematically as if I were watching a movie. I almost don’t want to read it, because I don’t want to finish it! This may be the slowest I’ll ever read a book.

Kindle readers can send comments to Lmspreen@yahoo.com.

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Dare to Dream: Sherry Miller

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Sherry Miller

So many people were motivated by Iris Anderson in my last post. You remember that she is 80 and still avidly pursuing and accomplishing her dreams. Sherry Miller wrote after seeing my post on the Facebook page of The Boomer Broads, and she is so inspiring I want to share her 61-years-young energy and enthusiasm with you:

Lynne, I started a Bucket list after the movie by that name came out and I read a great book The Sunday List of Dreams” by Kris Radish. I have been a business professional for 34 years. Sometime in the next 2 to 5 years I will retire from the corporate life. I have been working on a plan that will leave me financially comfortable enough that I can choose to do something that benefits people rather than corporations. I also want to choose a healthy lifestyle in weight management and exercise so I will have the well being to enjoy this next stage of life. Let’s face it, ill health is more expensive than prevention.

I will be downsizing and reducing my material footprint. This is to leave me free to allow other things into my life. I want to be more involved in church missions, available to family (grandchildren), to travel, more time to read, spend quality time with my network of women friends (I have 12 friends from HS who email daily even tho we may only see each other every 5 -10 years).

I love to work but not at the time-commitment level that my profession as a Financial Project Manager requires. So I am still seeking my next passion. Lately I have been looking into Aging Gracefully (aka In Place) and the support services Seniors need to help them plan and stay in their homes. I am also looking to my spiritual life and what God would have me do with this next chapter.

I don’t think I am much different from my peers. My 12 friends who are my age are all relatively healthy with different economic means but we all want to be engaged with our families, communities and each other. That engagement is the biggest contributor to successful aging per the Blue Zones study. So I think we are on the right track.

I would add looking at your current posting that I would also like to continue education as I am a lifelong learner. Universities offering senior discounts are much appreciated.

I also will stick with my husband. This is my 2nd marriage and his first. After more than 30 years of being together it would take a break in trust (aka Maria and Arnold) to change my commitment. My husband is 10 years older with health issues so more than likely I will out live him by at least a decade. We accept that possibility and enjoy our companionship now.

Lynne here: One of the gifts I received in maturity was realizing that I wanted to surround myself with positive people, and Sherry is one of those people. I feel energized just reading her post, and I hope you do, too.

Kindle readers can comment by emailing me at Lmspreen@yahoo.com.

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Boomers Gone Wild

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I feel guilty sometimes that I’m retired and don’t have to work so hard. I see my kids doing what I used to do and somehow, it seems harder. I remember working six days a week back then, but I still feel for them, probably because at 57 I don’t have the same energy level. And I’ve lived through drama and fought upon battlefields that, while new and exciting to them, would kill me to have to revisit. So I laughed at this Mother’s Day article, “62 Going on 22” by Jessica Grose. Jessica is just entering the young adult world, working her tail off and looking forward, when she has a spare molecule of energy, to marrying and starting a family. Her parents, on the other hand, are beginning to enjoy the carefree adulthood they never had. I know the feeling exactly and enjoyed reading the article. You may as well. Happy Mother’s Day!

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Still Learning From Mom

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Mom in North Dakota 2010

As a kid, I grew exasperated with my mother’s obsession with nature.   [Read more…]

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Will You Take My Money If I Wear a Bag Over My Head?

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As we age, we become invisible to retailers. That’s what Darryle Pollack of the Huffington Post is saying, and she’s not the only one. Quoting her article, “Though our numbers are growing faster than we can count, we don’t count in the eyes of image-makers and marketers. When we reach a certain age, we’re toast — burnt toast.” She cites an article in the NY Post, with this aggravating factoid:

About a year ago, executives at CNBC were alarmed to discover that they’d suddenly lost one-third of their audience. They couldn’t figure it out; news programming, as a rule, attracts the 25- to 54-year-old demographic. So the network delved into the data with the Nielsen Company and made a startling finding: That missing one-third was, in fact, still there. They were no longer being counted as viewers, because they’d turned 55.

It’s not that I’m insulted. I mean, I am, but the larger point is, what business can afford to ignore so many dollars and such a large and growing segment of the economy? Ad exec Lisa Thompson of Firespring gets it, though. She thinks we’re actually worth pursuing, and blogs here about how incredibly short-sighted it is for businesses to ignore our demographic.

My take? As an older person, I remember going to buy a car and the dealer ignoring me unless the conversation turned to colors. That certainly changed, and this will, too. In the meantime, look for age-responsive advertisers, and talk it up when you find a business that’s smart enough to respect us. Ultimately, businesses will notice.

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