My two-cents worth and then some. An online journal by LP Brown.

Posts Tagged ‘Bucket List’

From Bucket List to Broadcast

by on ·Politics

Tonight marks the beginning of an event I’ve eagerly awaited: the four-night Democratic National Convention (DNC). This year’s convention at Chicago’s United Center runs through Thursday, August 22. For years, attending the DNC has been a dream of mine, a personal bucket list item. While some people yearn for adventures to exotic locales like the Caribbean, Sardinia, or Paris, my aspirations have always been closer to home, rooted in the vibrant world of politics. Ever since I watched Representative Shirley Chisholm’s inspiring speech at the 1972 convention, I’ve longed to be part of this dynamic political gathering.

As a self-proclaimed political junkie, I understand the DNC’s primary purpose: nominating the Democratic candidate for the U.S. presidency. Yet, beyond the political machinations, the convention appears to be a grand celebration, a political festival of sorts, when viewed from afar. I want to be there. However, a friend recently reminded me that time is ticking for me to fulfill this dream. Like the Olympics, the DNC occurs only every four years, and I’m not getting any younger.

Reflecting on my political journey, I can’t pinpoint when my passion ignited. My parents weren’t particularly political; my mother didn’t vote, though my father rarely missed an election. Perhaps his dedication influenced me.

Politics has coursed through my veins for as long as I can remember. I’ve been involved in local campaigns, including Mayor Marion Barry’s, and have pinched pennies to contribute financially to various political causes, including the candidacy of current Democratic nominee VP Kamala Harris. My time at the Metro Chronicle newspaper also encouraged my interest in politics, allowing me to interview local political figures whom I admire, like Eleanor Holmes Norton.

Though I won’t be mingling with the political luminaries this week, I’ll be tuning in eagerly. When you’re a little fish in a little pond, you’re basically the CEO of a very exclusive puddle. As the CEO of my own little world, I may not be in the thick of the action, but I’ll be watching, captivated by the spectacle of democracy in action.

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Out with the Old, In with the New Bucket List!

by on ·Bucket List, General, New Year

Decades ago, after asking myself, “Why make ’em to break ’em?” I stopped making New Year’s Resolutions and began updating my bucket list on the eve. But, of course, life’s impermanence assures no guarantees, and those cousins – time and circumstance – determine whether my bucket list items get checkmarks, lined out, or revised. And, if I had to choose between having a root canal or taking a plane anywhere, I’ll make the dental appointment. In plain English, if I have to fly to get there, then I’m not going.

So, here is my updated, simple, feet-on-the-ground bucket list.

Fly a kite over the ocean. When my children were young, I would occasionally take them to the parking lot of a nearby schoolyard to fly their kites. Now that they’re grown, whenever I think about kite flying, I remember that I enjoyed it as much as they did, and I’d like to do it one more time, only not in a parking lot. Instead, I’ll fly my kite at a beach and hope my adventure won’t be like the dream I once had where… I’m at a beautiful beach and happy that I won’t have to worry about my kite getting tangled in trees or telephone lines. Instead of flimsy paper, I have a sturdy, nylon diamond kite with vivid red, yellow, and royal blue colors and a long black and purple prism ribbon tail. As soon as I lift the kite, the wind grabs it. The string begins to unravel rapidly as a strong breeze sends my prize soaring so high above the ocean that it kisses a feathery cloud in the bright blue sky. I hold the kite spool tightly with both hands, dig my heels into the sand, and assume a rigid, anti-gravity backward lean reminiscent of Michael Jackson in his Smooth Criminal video. A stronger gust pulls my kite out further over the water, and I struggle to hold on to it even as I am being dragged toward the ocean like a bare-foot water skier. I swerve left and right, trying to avoid colliding with sunbathers while attempting to reel it in. As my feet reach the shoreline, the string snaps, and I fall to the ground. Then, I scramble to my feet and watch my beautiful psychedelic-colored kite sail up, up, and away like a beautiful, helium-filled balloon until it disappears into the horizon.  

Go rock wall climbing again. The tomboy I was during my youth lives inside me. It resurfaced each time I scaled the indoor rock wall at the ClimbZone. It didn’t bother me that the younger and more agile folks climbed rings around me and scampered to the top. I was happy to make it halfway. Nor was I daunted by the fall I took when rappelling in 2019. Thanks to the safety harness, it was a soft drop, and nothing was broken or hurt except my pride. I’m not one who readily accepts defeat. I’ve since learned the proper way to rappel. So, I’m up to the challenge, ready and eager to try it once more. This time I aim to reach the top.

Get tickets (again) for The View. Over the years, I twice requested and was offered tickets to my all-time favorite TV program, The View. Regretfully, I could not go on the assigned dates. But, if it’s true that three’s the charm, and I get the opportunity again to be an audience member, come hell or high water, I’ll be there. That would be second only to the thrill my sister-in-law, Barbara, and I felt after being in Oprah’s audience in January 1986.

Have a granddaughter. Okay, this one is tricky. I have six grandsons and not a single granddaughter. While I love my grandsons to the moon and back, I’d still like to have a granddaughter. And yes, all things considered, I’ll settle for a great-granddaughter. Baby gods, do you hear me?

Travel cross-country in a sleeping car on Amtrak. While I’ve never aspired to be a globetrotter, there are a few places I’ve been that I’d like to revisit, and my travel would be on Amtrak. Denver is one of those places. I was mesmerized by the picturesque scenery near the mountain cabin where we lodged. The other place I’d like to visit again is beautiful Anaheim, California, and while I’m in the Golden State, I’d like to see the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Finally, there are two other places I would enjoy going to see outside the country – Ghana and Switzerland. But since those would require nine or ten hours in the air, I’ve nixed them. Even a one-hour flight is too long for me.

Revel in Times Square on New Year’s Eve one more time. My initial visit to Times Square on NYE was in 1968. That night was frigid. My then-husband and I nearly froze to death. Every year since then, while watching the New Year’s Eve festivities on TV, I say to myself, “Maybe, just one more time.” When I was younger, it didn’t bother me to be in a crowd among hundreds or more people. I enjoyed the camaraderie. I’ve participated in numerous walk-a-thon fundraisers and marches for various causes, including the anti-Klan rally in DC (I believe that was in 1989), the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington in 2013, and the Women’s March in 2017. Of late, I dislike being in crowds because people have lost their minds, and the safety and health risks are indeterminable. Just today, I learned of a machete attack in Times Square last night. Nevertheless, in a fit of temporary insanity, I might decide to do Times Square one more time.

Finish the darn book I’ve been working on for over a year. I know some authors have taken as long as a decade (some even longer) to finish writing their books. Procrastination is my nemesis, and frequent interruptions don’t help either. (A quiet cabin in the mountains would be the ideal place to write.) Whenever I feel like quitting the project, I draw inspiration from the words of Toni Morrison, “If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” I swallow Morrison’s dictate with a warm chaser, “If you are not afraid of the voices inside you, you will not fear the critics outside you.” – Natalie Goldberg (author of Writing Down the Bones).

My list is too long to continue elaborating on each topic, so I’ll list the other items without summaries for now.

  • Take another couples kickboxing or self-defense course.
  • Eat all I want and not gain a pound.
  • Meditate, do yoga, and work out every day to stay healthy.
  • Take piano lessons again.
  • Improve my bowling skills.
  • Go roller skating.
  • Volunteer at an animal shelter.
  • Always be humble, express gratitude, and adhere to the teachings of Desiderata – particularly this phrase, “As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.

Happy New Year, readers. Thanks for your support, and God bless!

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Reflections from the Other Side of the Hill

by on ·Baby Boomers, General, Lifestyle and Culture, Opinion, Retirement, The Way I See It

With retirement and advancing age comes the blessing of no longer having to play the games. What games? You ask. There are many. Some of them are easily eliminated when you are, as people like to refer to it, “over the hill.” But I will reflect on a couple.

Let’s start with working outside the home. When the opportunity to take an early retirement presented itself, I took it, albeit with some reluctance and much apprehension. Now, nearly ten years later, I consider myself blessed to have experienced an early retirement. Unfortunately, some people don’t live to see those carefree days.

Unless I fall-down on my luck, I can kiss-off job interviews, the workforce, and PITA (pain in the ass) bosses. Clarification is required here. Not all bosses are PITA. During my years spent in corporate America, I had some wonderful managers. I can honestly say that I loved at least one of them like a father. I worked for that man for ten years until he retired after which I found myself back in the labor pool swimming with the sharks and the backstabbers. Don’t get me wrong, I mingled with many good-hearted and wonderful people, too, and made some life-long friends.

Some of my worse memories are of being in a subordinate position to a couple of obviously unqualified managers whose negative character traits including racism and sexism were as evident as dog poop on the sidewalk. My job history and years of watching the gamers play taught me that just because someone has a prominent job title does not mean that he or she is qualified, proficient or principled. Intelligence is not always a requirement for a high position either. Anyone with the right backing and a base, no matter how unstable, can land the job. You could even become president.  Males are not always the culprits in the workforce either. Some women with authority can be more vicious than men.

I entered the workforce as a volunteer candy-striper at the long ago demolished Freedman’s Hospital, and I remained in the labor force for nearly 50 years. During the time before my escape to retirement freedom, I had some dream jobs and some duds. Now, I have no more demanding bosses, annoying co-workers, performance reviews, office politics, and boring staff meetings. And I have the opportunity to work from home when I want to.

While retirement brings some challenges – such is life – I find that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages and as with everything maintaining a positive attitude is key.

Another game that I am happy to be out of is the dating game. Regardless, of the present-day dangers, the dating game is fun, exciting, and deemed essential for Gen Xers and Millennials. But for many mature adults with whom I have discussed the subject and who are old enough to remember when it was safer to wade into the dating pool, courting now is more hassle than it is worth. Even if my near 20-year relationship should end for whatever reason, (some things like death and taxes are beyond our control), then I am done with dating. If I have learned nothing else in all of my years, it is that I can be quite content by myself, doing my own thing.

There are numerous other rules of the game that can be tossed aside in retirement. I don’t have to worry about the routine of going to bed early or setting an alarm clock to get up in the morning. Barring unforeseen circumstances, I can get up when I want, go where I want to go, do what I want to do. I don’t have to put on work clothes every day, and I don’t have to deal with a daily commute and rush-hour traffic.

Above all, I have time to pursue the things that I enjoy, like learning new things, furthering my education, exercising, reading and writing.

My bucket list is rather short. It is not a copy of someone else’s objectives:  travel the world, ride a hot air balloon, participate in running with the bulls in Spain, or hike the Appalachian Trail. Topping my list is (1) remain spiritual, (2) maintain a positive attitude and (3) avoid letting negative people ruin my day. You see, what I mean? My list is uncomplicated and original, just like me.

More to come on the games of life in future posts.

 

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