You never forget your first one!

The other day, we received our first energized card back from one of our Earth Angels.  Today, we received our first contribution to our crowdfund request. 


Two might not sound like a lot, but they are both proof positive that we actually GOT the request written, GOT it posted online.  Those are things over which we have control.  And we did both.  Our intention turned into COMPLETED actions.


We did it! 


That is no small accomplishment, at least for me. 


It's wonderful, dropping the shackles of the past.  However I came to get the message that what counts is what we dream of doing, the great & lofty goals we set - not what actually gets done - doesn't matter, only leaving it in my past.

 



I still have to fight against the tendency to get a task almost completed.  The desire to take tasks to DONE is firmly embedded in my nature, but wildly NOT part of my nurture.  It's marvelously empowering, being old enough, experienced enough, WISE enough to see the perversity that's kept me from doing what calls to be done, to step past it.


There might not be any more contributions to our crowdfund request ~OR~ we could end up fully funded, even go well past our goal.  We might just get the one card back ~OR~ end up with our po box full to overflowing.  How beyond-imagination fabulous that those are our "mights," not "we might get this posted" or "what might have been if we'd done a gofundme request."


Our task is completed.  Someone responded.  There may be more, there may not, but we will never forget our mega precious firsts!! 

The right ones

 

Just writing our crowdfund request has been transformative.  And such a incalculable blessing. 

This, in spite of not a single penny being registered as contributed to the request.  In spite of receiving a grand total of one (1) note card returned with a name & "You go, guys!" comments.  Zip & one. 


How does that make me feel?  At peace.  Best way to describe it. 


It also reinforces my gratitude for coming to peace with how few friends showed up after Mom died - her death was announced at the Contemporary & traditional adult church services;  only six stopped by that day.  That's how I always experience it - "Only six people..."  Until something happened last week at the wee small hours tag end of a cast party, when comments from two formerly pleasant acquaintances, now treasured friends, turned my feelings around. 


They weren't the only six people - they were the RIGHT six people. 


Ditto with the crowdfund request.  It could be that no one chips in.  It could be that our one friend is the only one who returns a card.  Could be the Universe will be telling us that we can whack our way through on our own, that the one friend is the right person to respond.   Hey, Universe - we're listening! 

 

Trust in the Lord, be of good courage

What an interesting, enriching three months.  In September, John & I finally posted our online crowdfund request focusing on our eldercare revolution efforts.  In a State of the Human letter we're just now sending out, we've shared the link with our circle of Earth Angels, emphasizing that the greatest investment they can make is to return an enclosed card with artwork & works by the awesome SARK.  Energies, more than money, are what POW!er us forward.


Right after posting the request, our computer conked out.  We'd only had it for two years, so it didn't make much sense for it to turn its toes up & depart from us.  Except...  Not having a computer had added an unexpected depth to my life.  I've done a lot of things over the past year - a workshop & three conferences, many books & articles read, TED Talks given a listen (went to two!), and a whole lot more. 


This is the first posting I've written in those three months.  It's also the first time I've checked the crowdfund site - not a single contribution.  But we've received wonderful comments & blessings, which is what we knew we'd treasure most, what we know will be the greatest fuel powering our next steps.


I hadn't intended for our State of the Human letters to go out around Thanksgiving.  The plan was to have them all done by mid-October ~ that was before the laptop went bye-bye & I was left to write everything at the library.  Seriously slowed things down!  But that's okay - gave me more time to ponder what to say.


Each letter has three parts - the update, thanks for having the person in our life, a link to the crowdfund request.  And two cards - one to keep, the other to return. 


It's been a remarkable experience, checking the site & seeing not a single contribution AND not feeling in the least bit downcast.  "For peace has in it confidence in the Divine, that God leads all things to a good end."  I truly believe that.  I've believed it my entire life, from childhood to this here & now moment. 


My life in this Thanksgiving week isn't anything like I'd expected back in September.  Several hours of my day is spent at anyone of several libraries.  Someone who has been pretty awful planning my day is now learning how to make each hour work for the best.  Each day is a blessing, not dwelling on what went good or bad yesterday, not over thinking about tomorrow.  Being HERE, NOW. 


Over the past twelve months, I attended my first writing workshop lead by Nancy Slonim Aronie at the Rowe Conference Center in beautiful NE Massachusetts.  My 2nd Leading to Well-Being Conference in the spring;  1st Positive Aging Conference in the summer;  3rd National Center for Creative Aging Conference - all of them reinforced my sense of being on a divinely-intended path.  And I was able to underwrite all of them on my own, so my expectation is that 2017 will be graced with more of the fabulous same! 


To our incredulous delight, two of the items on our crowdfund wish list are already checked off. Out of the blue - unrelated to the request - friends gave me a gift card that paid for an iPad mini.  And other friends decided their Grand Marquis was too fuddy duddy for their young selves - our new "grannie ride" & 2nd (at last!) car was a remarkable buy! 


Two things on our list that fell into our laps - THAT is what happens when energies get unleashed, when the Universe knows what we're looking for & can send requested goodies our way.


It's splendid looking around & seeing wondrous things tucked into every part of our lives.  We have our unexpected challenges - vet bills, car challenges, house stuff - but there is also a continual sense of balance, which is something I've sought for as long as memory serves me.  I am, at last, living in my now.


Each day is greeted with the intention to make the BEST use of its 24 hours.  Our circle of friends is a forever blessing on our lives.  We - okay, I am okay with who I am & no longer fret that I'm not more this way or that.  I am me.  One of the greatest things I've learned over my lifetime is the importance of being comfortable in your own skin.   I guess that's what feels like my greatest calling, the use that keeps nipping at my soul to get my act together & take it on the road ~ ~ to help others, whatever they age, feel at peace with themselves, to remove obstacles so they can be their best possible version.  I want people to be filled with the spirit of Auntie Mame & LIVE!  LIVE!  LIVE!


Trust in the Lord, be of good courage...  THAT is what I want for all my clients, my friends, my family & loved ones.  And that doesn't need anything more than an inspired spirit, caring heart & will hands to make it so!

NOLA OCHS - life at full throttle

Between TRYING to get my contacts from the Positive Aging Conference in some sort of sane order before heading back down to D.C. this weekend, printing & cutting out masks for a local elementary school creativity activity that's open to the entire school, getting ready to dive into my Cupcake Lady duties on Saturday then take off FROM THE FARM MARKET for the train to 30th Street to catch the train to Union Station, making sure everything is ready to pack, debating whether to get a BIGGER student-style backpack ~AND~ wanting to get four sets of my ValuesVisionDreams activity cards d-o-n-e by Thursday at the latest, decided it was wise to cancel a coffee & catch-up scheduled tonight with a friend I haven't seen in over a month.

So glad I did.

Among the original set of fifteen cards, three especially stand out:

Albert Lexie - turns out he's the half brother of a friend of mine!

Alex Scott - everything about Alex makes me turn to a puddle of inspired goopy love.

Nola Ochs - well, Nola is going to take more than a bullet point.

Nola, world's oldest MASTER's degree recipient!

I am using my favorite billboards for a special project. Today, I checked online to find out when Nola had passed. Much to my surprise, there was not mention of her death. But there was a link to "Nola Ochs - obit" inviting friends & loved ones to write an obituary. Turns out that she died TODAY, at 104 years old. 

How she would have laughed over the description on the wikiobits site - "Nola Ochs was an Academic who was best known for something."

Putting it mildly.

I discovered Nola because she was featured on a Values.com billboard, exemplifying LIVE LIFE.  And did she ever.

Maybe Nola is super dear to my heart because she was born just eighteen months after my own dear Mama - on November 22, 1911.  She always loved learning & while she didn't graduate from college,she earned her teaching certificate & taught in county schools for four years, until marrying Vernon Ochs.

I am sure that Nola considered herself the quintessential Midwest success story,

living a rich, full life as a Kansas farmer's wife, raising four sons.  But always at the back of her mind was a yeaning to learn more about what was out there. 

When Vernon died in 1972, Nola - in what I now know to be the creatively rich 60s - decided to do something that would get her off of the farm. 

In 1978, a kid of 67, she started by taking a tennis class at Dodge City Community College.  She loved brushing shoulders with her younger classmates - many old enough to be her grandchildren, even great-grands - and the classes filled her up, socially emotionally intellectually.  Her sense of humor & easy charm won her friends of all ages, professors students staff.

"The students on the campus accepted me. I enjoyed myself so much, that fall I enrolled in an agribusiness marketing class,” Nola said.

"Really, I had no thought of ever graduating. For 10 years, I just took classes that were of interest to me, something that I would enjoy doing; mostly history and composition. And then one of the professors came to me and told me if I would take college algebra, I would have enough credit hours to graduate."

And she did!  At 77, in 1988, Nola Ochs received her associate degree from the same school she took that first tennis class.

Nola was up for another goal.   “I still wanted to go to school. It was fun to go to classes. And if I had an assignment to do in the evening, that occupied my time in a pleasant way, you know.” 

Dodge City Community College only offered associate degrees, but Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas...

When she applied to FHSU, she mentioned having attended back when it was called The Kansas State College.  Her advisor dug through old files & actually came up with an index card indicating her student status - in 1930!  She shot her an e-mail - - "Nola, how old are you?"

To begin with, Nola limited herself to long distance courses, but finally moved the 100 miles from farm to campus.  Taking her degree in history, Nola was a living reference point for students & professors, winning their admiration & deep affection.

Nola Ochs graduated with a 3.7 GPA - she was 95. She graduated along side her granddaughter, Alexandria, age 21.  Straight out of college, she was snapped up by the Princess Cruise Lines, who hired her as  guest lecturer on a nine-day Caribbean cruise. 

Nola hadn't begun to hit stride.  She took time to help the family bring in the wheat crop, then started back at school in Fall 2007.  In May 2010, she became the oldest person to receive a Master's degree.  As she celebrated her 100th birthday, Nola continued pursuing master classes, had a job as a graduate teaching assistant & was deep into writing a book.

.

Nola, with Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius

Nola was an inspiration to the at-risk high school kids I taught, she will be an inspiration to all the ages who use my ValuesVisionDreams cards, she will always be an inspiration - and remarkable role model - to me & to all who hear her story.

An 07/11/06 press FHSU press release quoted Nola as saying, “I've led a long, interesting life. We went through the dust storms.  We had some difficult times in our marriage, financially. But it's been the Lord's will that I've lived this long life, and I thank Him kindly for it.”

"Nola Ochs was an Academic who was best known for something."  What a hoot!  She's forever known around the globe for her full-throttle life, for living every moment, for embodying for her family, friends, fellow students, professors, staff - the world! - how to LIVE LIFE.