Publishing indeed!
I just adore magazines the same as the way I loved figure skating ... a quick bond and a lifetime love affair.
August 2017 biggest accomplishment
As August 2017 comes crashing to an abrupt and disastrous halt. I've taken in some quality movies and series, primarily from HBO.
Not surprising that HBO leads the pack (with Netflix nipping at their heels). Not only was HBO an early disruption to network television, they also proved that there was a sophisticated, educated, and most likely upper income situated, who would flock to quality programs.
No, they didn't just become a reseller, they created content. It is befitting that their great Game of Thrones is leading the buzz both online and in conversations, dinners, viewing events.
I had taken a sabbatical in life. Withdrawing unto myself, with a deep reflection on the past. Ironically, the highest KLOUT ranking than I'd had since KLOUT reinvented itself, causing a free fall of early adopter scores by at least 15 points.
Lucky for many, online marketers don't look at authenticity reinforcement like KLOUT or KRED scores. That has something that has always puzzled me. Particularly in Canada: because these scores establish true influence, define audiences and decipher appeal of a profile. Just log in with ideally your Twitter handle, then add your Facebook page, your PINTEREST boards and instaGRAMs etc. to connect everything together in one full swoop.
I received a personal email from one of my first real online connections, Mike Lehr, a couple of days ago and struggled with a response.
My greatest accomplishment
in August was achieving the highest mark on Solitaire from my computer. Talk about mental shut down or just turning off my "give a damn meter" completely.
Granted, the highest mark in Klout Score for about 8 years is remarkable. What is more amazing is I probably have spent a lot less time online.
The beacon was there but my cloudy mood wasn't seeing it. Sunglasses towards life. Muted, darkened and cloaked in disguise. Dwelling on the has beens, the should haves in the twilight of life.
Mike made mention of the tag leading him to the conclusion that I write a lot about those of us in our 50s and plus. It is a fairly closed society I would admit, but not an exclusive one by any means.
Leading the helm being born in 1961: when, according to either Boom, Bust & Echo or The Popcorn Report, it was the worst year thus far to have lived in.
I started reading about demographics in the early 80s .... I know, that time of YuppyDOM and YuppyHOOD - the stamp of coolness presented in the being you represented.
I admit to being a Yuppy of that era. I admit to having puffed up bangs and during the week wearing a ladies suit attempting to clamber up the chain of career, not unlike the baby turtles climbing over each other to attempt to escape the pail in which they hatched from their shell.
I do write to so many of us that were born in the middle of bomb shelters and a United States invasion. Nuclear war seemed eminent between the US and Russia. The authors of those events, the greatest politicians the world had ever seen: a storybook tale, among a loving family, loyal brotherhood, beautiful wife and charisma telling stories of hope, pride, and human-kindness to all people of all colors.
One of the few things that Mike said that made me think again: whether my 50s have been a disappointment? Uncanny, that love, friendship, life & family have been some of the best I've been lucky enough to have. It has been the worst in my career in equal proportions. That is a very frustrating circumstance to be in.
You have the war stories, can regale heroic accomplishments, awards and rewards but somehow sucked into this hole that, like the turtles is hard to climb out of.
Depression and mental health issues must be alarming for anyone 50 or older. Unlike your elder Baby Boomer siblings who have glided to the opposite spectrum of life: Semi retired by 55, kids all university educated (without the debt load) because you were parented by those from the great depression era and had faced huge obstacles to get to the other side: optimism, reward, recognition, service, loyalty, dedication, beliefs.
In similar fashion, and dipping into my fascination with numbers, I wonder how much financial foresight they had to have by when in order to fulfill many of us others wildest dreams.
Some of us got on a treadmill and forgot what gave us joy. Too caught up on just making it through another day. The pressures to not just keep up in the Yuppy attitude: comparison and competition drive our segment. Where our children have become entitled and tenacious. Like Yuppies, Millennials know what is going on in their world: the threats, the competition, the need for education, striving to get ahead in a very large age group.
I'm lingering around the 1960s and older who are nipped at the edge of Baby Boomers who had all the best opportunities. Waiting and learning, we had to observe, ask a lot of question, and act as a sponge, embracing lessons from others' failures, rapt with attention to their climb into iconic status: Steve Jobs, Michael Jackson (watch it on HBO right now), who are admired and respected, after many years of disappointment, disillusion, accusations, failure.
Steve Jobs and Michael Jackson, the ones before us: Baby Boomers, taught us valuable lessons and a common understanding: the higher the achievement, the more likelihood of opposition, targeting, slander, dishonesty, suffering, monetary loss.
Survival is key
Surviving is a critical characteristic we in our 50s share. We've faced so many obstacles and had to start over more than once. Or, had to rethink our own perspective and outlook. Maybe change how we view the world, banishing bitterness to deep hole of the past.
Rebound, rejoice, rejuvinate
we have the energy to realize we still have a lot of youth in us along with knowledge accumulated by failure or lack of luck. We've exercised our energy to levels that our technology dependent youngsters have become so reliant on, the likelihood of them being able to read a traditional clock, nondigital form, is rare. We grew up with the basics, started with the basics, and able to conjure up some pretty cool answers to solving a lot of problems.
Once again, we're faced with much greater of forces of life: no longer just war, struggle for power, and financial supremacy, today you have to worry about safety, violence, terror, corruption, like never before.
Conditioned as survivors
YUP! We Yuppies can set the tone, raise the bar, lead by example on life's greatest lessons. In style, polished, educated, ethical and poised as our parents and grandparents instilled in us, not simply taught us.
