This blog is written by Lee Gale Gruen to help Baby Boomers, seniors, retirees, and those soon to retire find joy, excitement, and satisfaction in life after retirement. Her public lecture on this subject is titled: “Reinventing Yourself in Your Retirement.” Her memoir, Adventures with Dad: A Father and Daughter’s Journey Through a Senior Acting Class, is available by clicking here Amazon.com. Click here for her website: http://AdventuresWithDadTheBook.com
CHITCHAT: I am a guest blogger this week on Honey Good, a website for women 50+ with a philosophy of “celebrating a woman’s life after 50.” Click here to read my guest blog: https://www.honeygood.com/my-second-act-of-life1/
Now, on to my blog:
Ah, Monet. We hung out together recently. That is, Monet did the hanging–on a wall at the de Young Museum in San Francisco, California, with me in attendance and in awe. As you can see in this photo, I failed to dress for the occasion–a faux pas as Monet would say in the French of his origin. Yes, I stressed primary colors that day forgetting that my pal Monet is definitely a secondary colors kind of guy.
No matter; we were both gobsmacked (I’ve been dying to use that trendy word) by the beauty of his garden and his ability to render it on a flat surface. Yes, two of totally different interests and viewpoints can come together over a shared commonality.
Monet and I were born 100 years and 4,000 miles apart. What would we have talked about if we hadn’t had such distances between us? We would certainly have discussed the beauty of nature. We might have marveled at the intricacy of a leaf, the color of a flower, the soothing ripple of water.
It’s not always easy to find something in common with another. But, more often than not, there will be a little nugget if you dig deep enough.
I attended a banquet dinner last year and was sitting at a table with some folks I didn’t know. One man tried to engage me in conversation, but each thing he mentioned didn’t hit a cord. Finally, in response to yet another of his queries, I revealed that I had graduated college in 1964 from UCLA. Voilà (to continue in a Francophile mode), my table mate began discussing Kareem Abdul Jabbar who was a student at UCLA around that time and became a top ranked player on the university basketball team. I know very little about sports, but I was able to contribute that Kareem was known then by his birth name of Lew Alcindor. That opened up a lengthy conversation which segued into different topics.
Find common interests with those you encounter. Keep bringing up different subjects until you hit upon something that excites you both. It’s there; you just have to keep searching for it. Even the dullest, most withdrawn human will shine when you strike upon their passion. That’s the way to make friends!
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I spotted this guy on a subway train with this huge drum. I guess he subscribes to the old adage: you never know when you might need a drum.
Reinventing Yourself in Your Retirement Years 