Stay Golden! What does that mean to you? What’s inside of you that is “golden”? I am starting a series to learn more about living a golden life. My good friend, Jane O’Brien, tells us what makes her life shine.
Do You Say Bucket List?
by Jane O’Brien, Author and so much more!
I have never used the phrase ‘bucket list,’ and I refuse to use it, since it actually means ‘things you want to do before you kick the bucket,’ but truth be told, I guess I do have one, a list that is, not a bucket. So for my purposes we’ll call it ‘a list of things I want to do before I’m too old.’ How’s that for a phrase?
My list is getting shorter, because one of the many things on my list was writing, and now I can say I have done that, but when I started to write my first novel, I never dreamed that I would actually continue on to write more stories. I am about to publish my fourteenth book, and I am blown away with my accomplishment, since I just wrote the first book five years ago at the age of 67.
It seems I have a flood of stories in my head that can’t be dammed up, but I wouldn’t want to stop them from coming out if I could. I have discovered that I cannot live without writing.
I’ve always been that way with my hobbies; the trouble is that most of my hobbies never go away. I keep them and add on new ones. I once had an article written about me in a local paper for our small town. It was called Your Neighbor Next Door. Someone had suggested my name to the reporter as a person of interest. I laughed when she asked if she could interview me, because I couldn’t imagine what in the world I had to say that would interest her. When I read the article she had written, I was shocked. She had perfectly captured who I am — a person who doesn’t quit.
Now, I’m not saying this to brag about my accomplishments, but rather to tell others that it doesn’t matter what is on your ‘list that shall not be named.’ What matters is that you take the first step and never stop until you’ve accomplished it. You’ve heard ‘never quit’ before, I’m sure. That’s how I have lived my life. I am like a dog with a bone when I latch onto something I love. Not with sports – you never want to see me throw a ball or swing for a homerun. Not pretty. But then I’m not interested in those things. I am interested in music, flowers, quilting, and books.
I took piano lessons for thirteen years. I quit once for a few weeks, and then begged my mother to go back to. I became a piano teacher when I was fifteen years old and never quit. I gave my last lesson two years ago when I moved to an apartment.
I started quilting out of desperation for female friends, so I took a quilting class at my church. I didn’t think I liked quilts, but I fell in love with cotton and color. I still quilt regularly after thirty years.
I got hooked into genealogy when my daughter had to do a family tree in the sixth grade. She turned in her project and went on her way. I became a genealogy fanatic. That was 36 years ago, and I still check Ancestry.com every day for a new lead.
My mother hooked me on gardening at an early age, so as soon as I had my first house, I planted things and never stopped. The first time I went to a daylily show with a friend, I became addicted. Did you know that there are over 80,000 cultivars of daylilies? After 25 years, I owned 150 distinctly different ones. This is the only hobby I was forced to give up, due to moving to an apartment for my husband’s health, and I thought it would kill me, but I’m still here so I guess it didn’t.
Last fall, in the dark of night, I planted a daylily in the wood chipped area next to my patio. Every apartment on the main floor has the same landscaping. The daylily popped through the earth last week, and I’m thrilled. I’ll have to wait and see if anyone notices. I guess I also have a little bit of rebel in me, not much, though, I’m usually known as a goody-two-shoes.
She had perfectly captured who I am — a person who doesn’t quit.
Through all of my passions, I have learned one thing. It doesn’t matter if you have a ‘list of things to do before you’re too old.’ If you only have one thing that you always wanted to do, do it! And if that is writing, then simply sit down at the computer and start to write. Write anything. Write about who you are, and where you came from. Write about your childhood. Everyone’s unique in that way. Write how you met the love of your life, my favorite question to ask a new couple I meet.
If you don’t like what you wrote, hit back space, or delete the whole thing and start again. No one will ever know. It’s between you and the keyboard. That’s what is wonderful about writing. You can keep it a secret for a long time until you’re ready to show the world. Stay at it, and write every day, even if only for a half hour, and your first article or book will eventually get done. But even if you never show anybody, at least you can say that you checked off something on the ‘list of things to do before you’re too old,’ or your ‘bucket list’ if you prefer.
If you only have one thing that you always wanted to do, do it!
Get to Know Jane O’Brien
Author Jane O’Brien is one of my favorite writers and she is also a wonderful social media friend. She writes popular novels set in western Michigan. Her books take a sympathetic look at the loves and struggles, both inward and outward, of seemingly ordinary people. When you read a Jane O’Brien romance book you relax and enter a calm world of beauty, caring, and love. But please don’t think that means her book are boring- far from it! There are tragedies, sadness, difficult romances, even ghosts that will pique your interest.
Here is part of a review I wrote after reading one of Jane’s book- but it applies to all of her lovely stories:
Reading a book by Author Jane O’Brien is like spending time with a good friend that you can count on. You know you are in for a calm, warm, understanding time together. Jane O’Brien writes with a lyrical and pleasant voice. Author O’Brien’s positive stories and her books remain in my heart after I have finished them.
Thanks, Jane. Friends- are you ready to be like Jane and “do it”? Would you like to share your Life Lessons and tell us about YOUR Golden Life? Please let me know in the comments and I will get in touch with you!
About the Author
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