The Adventures of the Blind/Low Vision/Visually Impaired (BLOVI) Girl- Volume 66: Is it possible to create something new when you are getting old: Middle Age and Good Ideas
I have lots of great ideas in my head, or at least I think they are great. I have ideas on how to improve existing things and start new things. I have ideas about how to bring organizations together in collaboration and ideas to start some truly unique programs as well as businesses. And I think I have the energy to help implement new ideas. But the bigger issue is gaining momentum through things I do not have; money, power and influence. So in this blog I muse about creating new things in the second phase of my life. But first………………..
My WTF of the week is the fact that my sinuses are already out of control because of the crazy pollen and weather fluctuations. My allergies and sinus problems usually don't begin until later in the year; as it gets hotter, I have more problems. But this year I started in March. I did not develop allergies until about 10 years ago, which was 11 years after moving to Columbia. I am convinced that everyone who lives or moves here will eventually have allergies. I have had people even visit me for a few days that say they are stopped up or blowing their nose the whole time they are here, but have no problems where they live. So Columbia is not only famously hot but famously allergy producing. I am naming it Famously Snot. It is a telling thing when you continually pray for rain to wash pollen away. Thank goodness I have a rain dance.
This week I can’t get enough of the TED website. As you may have noticed, I am mentioning things I saw on TED frequently. That is because I watch two or three Ted talks a day. I find them completely fascinating and inspiring. Lately I am watching videos on DNA and genetics and human lineage and also on social relationships and global health and economics. I feel really informed after watching a TED video, much like I feel after watching the Kahn Academy. And TED has led me to new books or research articles. Most importantly it inspires me to learn and explore or try out new ideas. I have been watching the TED prize winners and really want to bring a model that Dave Eggers won the TED prize for in 2008 to Columbia. It is TED that has led me to start thinking about all the things I wish I could implement or study.
This leads me to the focus of the blog. Are innovative ideas and the energy to implement them reserved for the young? I was reading a Malcolm Glad well book and he had a chapter on late bloomers; those that are most creative and produce their best work in middle age or later. I am not sure if I am one of these. I have always had a mind filled with ideas and in my earlier years would get up in the middle of the night to write things down and come up with new models and theories, none of which ever went anywhere. In my 20’s I was a good starter, but could never see things through. I had no patience. Then there came the years of working 60 hours a week growing a business when there was only time to create what I was paid for. Then came the fog years of pregnancy and having an infant and toddler. Then came a change in career and then came the accident. Through the years of work and worry and sometimes, chaos, my mind had some ideas in it, but was mostly filled with getting through the day.
In the last few months something has shifted and my brain is awash in new thoughts and ideas. Maybe it is because I have space for them or created space for them. Maybe it is because things have been more stable in my home life. Maybe it is because I have more energy. Maybe it is because I stopped the outward creative expression of dance and music and have again turned inward to the work of my brain, a scary but always interesting place. Whatever the case, my brain is awake and active and has a need for me to feed it with new information. So lots of reading nonfiction and research is taking place. I am connecting pieces I know with the new things I learn to crate a web of interconnections. I feel compelled not so much to write, but to do. The program I have latched onto is the one Dave Eggers won the TED prize for in 2008, Once Upon a School and I want to bring that model to Columbia. After watching him talk about the model I thought, we need that here. In short it is a tutoring center housed in a retail space that has a storefront that is typically something really cool. In San Francisco they have a pirate store and in Brooklyn it is a Superhero store. Tutoring takes place at the site and the tutors and mentors also go into the schools. Some of the focus has been on writing and creative expression, but it can be broader. I have an idea for the storefront that would combine artistic and creative expression into the tutoring aspect. I can actually visualize the whole thing in my head. It is not the first time I have visualized a program or project that I think is really cool and impactful, but it is the first time I have had the balls to think that maybe I can make this happen. And the change is that I am older and wiser. I have more patience to see things through and more understanding of the huge role relationships and marketing play when selling something new. What I lack is money to do it myself. But the model in other cities has been run by volunteers and the money has come from the retail part. What I also lack is influence. But, being rooted here these 21 years means I do know many people and some of those people have money, power and influence.
For me, it is possible to have new and creative and great ideas in middle age and have the energy to do them. It is possible because, in middle age, I better understand the world and how it works, have patience, and have the confidence and courage to believe I can change the world. I think 20 years ago I could have never created an idea or project and stewarded it through to its fruition and done it well. It is never too late to try something new, take risks or go out on a limb. Remember, your tree is now deeply rooted.
Keep Moving Forward,
Beth (BLOVI) Medlock
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