A year ago my wife Laura and I talked about what I wanted to do for my 60th birthday. A trip? Well that’s coming next week, a combo of several milestones for us. A party? Nah, not my thing and you can never get to all the people you would want to see anyway.
I had a different idea. Live the year to the best you can, do things…many things…see people and places you want to see. It was a list of “60”…in a year, lots of combos…visit 10 new churches as one, catch up in person with 10 high school, grammar school or college friends…walk the length of Long Beach Island…take a fencing lesson. On and on. And I wrote em down, and compared then to an actual BOOK about things to do when you were 60 (my list is better and I don’t need or want a tattoo thanks).
Now I’m also giving myself some room…a few more months because the list evolved and changed a bit, but as I sit here today, I think I accomplished a good amount, some of which I didn’t even think of as I wrote the list.
Some: baseball in London, cricket in the same week in the US (World Cup)…new campuses visited,,,St. Mary’s, Berkeley, Howard, Spellman, Kansas, Vanderbilt, Loyola…Halls of Fame…Country Music, Negro Leagues, College Basketball, Little League…new churches in Nashville and Paris, LA and London, Kansas and Chicago…Penn State Football, Seinfeld at the Beacon, U2 at The Sphere, Bonjovi and Colbert at NJ PAC, dinner with my high school classmate Bill Kennedy at Stanford, so many stadia for the first time…Snapdragon and Sofi, the LA Coliseum and Gillette Stadium, high school football in Pennsylvania, the Warriors at the Chase Center, Citifield for the NLDS and NLCS, the Cubs at Wrigley…multiple Presidential libraries…read at least 10 books…hear my college roomie sing in Asbury Park…give blood twice…
And a snack with Sr. Jean Delores Schmidt.
There will be more to list out at the end of the year, but the point is, as Richard Gere said in a video TODAY…
“I have aged, but my heart is still young. … every year is special and precious. Don’t regret growing old, it’s a privilege that not everyone has.”
Older but not up. Not easy…but worthwhile….disappointing and sad at times. but hopeful and curious.
I raise this because several people have asked in the past few weeks…”Are you gonna start slowing down?” Umm…no. why?
Today I talked to a smart young guy who is looking to find his career voice and he started a newsletter…just like I did 16 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK…and I keep it going because it keeps me interested, curious and learning.
I was asked over the weekend about the interest in podcasting…well my colleague Tom Richardson and I have been doing our podcast at Columbia for SEVEN YEARS…and every week we learn something new and help lift a story that should be told.
The point is I don’t do all these things for the money…I don’t do any of them for the ego…I don’t do these things to draw attention to myself…I do them because I love them. I love learning and listening from others…I love showing up and watching the reactions of others…on campuses, in museums, on the street, at conferences, in restaurants…in parks.
I learn from you.
Thank you.
And while year 6o is in the books, the list of 60 keeps going and growing…some boxes get checked, some get added, and the experience never gets smaller or more amazing.
Slow down? Nah. Let’s keep it going.
The party is just starting. Join whenever you like.
