Swooshing Sound?
I found a great article by Glen Gardner on his website “Aging Hipsters” called Boomerang. I think the story he writes is apropo for Baby Boomers. Do you know what a boomerang is? Did you ever have the pleasure to throw one in your youth? What is the significance of the boomerang in your life today? A boomerang when thrown correctly, travels in a curved path and returns to its point of origin. Glen Gardner writes, “If you know how to toss it just right, it will slice through the air and return to you in a near perfect arc. That reminds me a lot of the way our generation has aged. The older this baby boomer gets, the more I seem to be reverting to my younger self.” I wonder how many baby boomers feel like their life has come full circle.
A Summary of Glen Gardner’s story”
When he was a little boy his father gave him a red transitor radio with white plastic earphones. He remembers turning on that radio and hearing his first song and he was hooked. Eventually in life he got into radio and built a career.
“Here’s where the boomerang comes in. When you are pretty good at what you do, in many cases you get kicked upstairs to the corporate side of whatever business you made your life’s work. In my case I became the CEO of a radio company in Illinois. After five years of running the company and serving on the boards of two other companies, I realized I wasn’t doing any radio anymore. As opposed to making what came out of those speakers, I was spending the vast majority of my day on spreadsheets, board reports, HR problems and sales meetings. That’s when the boomerang hit me on the back of the head.”
What a profound statement. How many baby boomers have found themselves swallowed up in their careers and wondering how they got there only to find themselves choosing out and making a life choice. A life choice to go back and do that thing that makes them feel alive. That is what this story by Glen Gardner made me think about. What makes you feel alive? Are you doing it today? Or did it get lost in translation? More to come!!
3 Comments
Small point, AgingHipsters is not Glen’s site. My partner and I run aginghipsters. Glen is a guest columnist and a radio host in Madison, WI. You can find out more on him here:
http://www.myspace.com/glengardner
Jan,
Thanks for the correction. I apologize. I would love to give you full credit in a correction. Can I get you and your partners full name?
Darlene
tried to find a contact link to pass along our info, but perhaps my eyes are too old to see it. In any case, not a big deal. I just wanted to clear that up.
Thanks.