There’s a line in my latest book, Merry Mayhem, when, as Addie is leaving for work, her brother tells her to have fun. That may sound odd, but the characters in the Court Reporter Mysteries are all lucky enough to have careers they love. Addie’s father was a barnstormer back in the late 1930s, early 1940s. He was considered a bum, as were surfers in my day. Vesta’s father nearly had a heart attack when she told him she was going to marry a flyboy. But Vesta’s husband, Addie’s father, proved the naysayers wrong. He went on to make history, started his own flight school, and retired as a famous consultant.
Vesta’s passion was modeling. (You can find more of her story in the Sorority Sisters Mysteries.) Her father, who saw women going back to their homes after WWII and becoming dependent on men, insisted Vesta finish medical school in order to support herself—he didn’t see modeling as a lucrative career. But Vesta became a highly sought-after Vogue model right into her 70s. Addie’s brother knew from the moment he discovered his uncle’s law books that he wanted to be a legal beagle. Addie wanted to be an English lit professor, but once she became licensed as a court reporter and began working, she said, “It’s like playing a word game all day and getting paid quite well for it,” so she never looked back.
Shouldn’t we all love what we do? Be excited to wake up in the morning and begin? This may not seem relevant to women of a certain age, but let’s look at that. Did you love your career? Hate it? Did you put in all those years for health insurance and a retirement package? If you did, it was a win! You achieved your goal! Now what? Are you doing something you’re passionate about? Or resting on your laurels? Either way, are you having fun?
I went from 60-hour weeks as a court reporter to owning and running a bed-and-breakfast inn and writing. I will admit that I sometimes envy my friends who are quite literally on vacation every day. I often wonder what that would be like. I keep a journal in which, among other things, I list what I’m doing for the day, and what I wish I were doing. The to-do list may have 24 items that I never accomplish. The what-I-wish-I-were-doing page most often reads, “Home alone, nothing to do.” That tells me I need to take a few days to myself to putter.
In Alexandra Stoddard’s book Living a Beautiful Life, she talks about the importance of puttering. It empties our minds. The dictionary definition of putter is to occupy oneself in a pleasant manner, doing a number of small tasks or not concentrating on anything in particular. I’m a huge fan of puttering! But, honestly, after a few days, or even weeks, of puttering, I’m biting at the bit to get back to writing. I run my B&B in the summer months. When October rolls around and the guests leave town, I open a bottle of champagne to celebrate. But when spring arrives, I get anxious to see them all again.
What are your passions? How do you spend your days? Do you putter? Is there something you wish you’d done but now feel it’s too late? If so, I’m here to tell you that it’s never too late. I have a friend who got her doctorate degree at age 77 and another friend who entered law school at the age of 81. My goal is to have the Court Reporter Mysteries on Netflix and to be interviewed by Oprah Winfrey!
If you don’t try, you’ll never know what might have been!
Hoping you achieve your goals!!