I Am A Celebrant - A Blogiversary & Reinventing Yourself

My Blog is 2 years old...almost!  This coming Sunday, August 12, will be the two year anniversary of my first blog post.  I started the blog for myself.  I wanted to:

1. Learn a new skill

2. Work a regular writing discipline into my routine

3. Capture the meaningful events in my life

4. Honor people in my life who were important to me

I have accomplished all those goals and more so.  I found that my blog took on a life of its own.  Through the two years I have enlarged my sense of who I am as a person, I reinvented myself...from a person who didn't know much about computers to a person who is a "Blogger!"

Retirement for us has been  a gift and an opportunity to realize that we can continue to grow and become MORE...we can reinvent ourselves.  Sadly, we recently attended a memorial for a friend who never experienced retirement.  Mistakenly thinking he had time, he continued to decide to work, "just one more year." 

I think it is significant that the first blog I wrote was about my husband, Jay, and a class he had put together on the topic of Energy to teach at CSUDH's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute because today I want to write about Jay again.  Jay is a perfect example of someone who has re-invented himself.  He retired 12 years ago from a career as an aerospace engineer.  It was his identity...what he presented to the world and what he held in his mind. Today, he would still tell you he was an engineer because an engineer takes science and applies it in ways to try to improve the human condition.  He continues to carry a notebook, pen, pencil, highlighter in his top left pocket...but NO pocket protector!

However, how he manifests his role as an engineer is completely different.

Six years ago he began reading and hearing much about Global Warming and Peak Oil.  An eternal "skeptic" he decided to attend a day-long conference held at Cal Tech on the topic to try to determine, for himself, if what he received from the media was truth and to try to better understand the situation.  That conference was the catalyst for his re-invention!  In the intervening years he has worked to understand and monitor the "true" state of affairs regarding these two topics and their inter-relationship. He has read stacks of books, analyzed charts, dug into data, talked with experts, and mulled the situation over and over. 

As he own knowledge and analysis grew, he took on another role...that of informer.  Convinced that the government cannot solve this problem on its own because legislators are so removed from scientific data, he seeks to translate the information into a form that others can understand, inform others about what the issues are, and influence policy and action (both governmental and private) into the most effective activities toward maintaining a healthy economy, society and world.  What a huge objective!  He writes letters, contacts "those in positions of influence," and continues to teach.

Just this week he began teaching another course, this time at UCLA in their Extension Program, on The Critical Issues of Energy and Climate Change.  Today his world, his area of expertise, his world perspective and his self-image are all broader in scope and purpose.

The beauty of it all is that re-invention is a continuing process.  He will tell you one thing today, but he knows that a new finding or a tweeking of a situation can change the data.  It is dynamic and Jay remains open to new information and is willing to adjust his findings and even change his mind!  What a concept!

So...he is continuously re-inventing himself and as a result, is more fully alive!