Let me talk to my fellow GenXer’s. We are at that age where we’ve pretty much defined who we are as a person.
Think about all those stages we’ve gone through trying to figure out who we are. I really wish I knew as a kid that we were all struggling to get through the younger stages of life.
The majority of us were kids in the 1970’s. How many of us went through our Arthur Fonzarelli stage? We were all trying to be cool and tough like Fonzie. In the 1980’s I can remember a handful of you girls dressed like Madonna.
Here we are in the 2020’s between the ages of 44 and 59. Not many of us are walking around anymore like Madonna and Fonzie.
Are you happy with what you created? Can you live these next twenty five to forty years being you?
My mommy called me John. Professionally I’m John, but who is John? Five percent of you know me as John. If you went to school with me or knew me before I climbed into the ten year note pit you knew Shep.
After 1989 I transformed into this big guy on the other side of the bond room. I was still a kid so going anywhere around town and hearing, "Hey Jumbo" made me feel important. I was a fucking Board of Trade big shot. I was right there with Sting, Prince, Bono, Ali and Cher.
I was a young idiot, that is what I was….
The creation of John to Shep to Jumbo has been a work in progress. I’m glad I’ve been using a pencil with a strong eraser.
I think about the Frank Sinatra song that sings about being seventeen. Then when he was twenty one and thirty five. The song gets somber when he sings that he is in the golden years.
What we’ve created for everyone to see isn’t who we are. It is what we created inside that makes up the work of art.
Sure we have our addictions, our faults, our struggles…. But never discount the strength and courage that gets you through the gray area of life.
It’s alright to use tones of grayness in this creation of ours. Yellows and purples don’t always wear well.
There is a day in late October where we can be Fonzie or a Material Girl. You can dress up like a nun or like Dick Butkus. You can be a witch or wear a goalie mask.
….but today when your feet hit the ground, you are a fanfuckingtastic person made with flaws and erasure marks.
None of you can be a divorcee with a gorgeous caboose driving in a green blazer… that’s my creation!
It’s Tuesday, it’s alright to be in a daydream. Go out and create a beautiful you today!
