Hi, all! I am new to the list, and feel both elated
and somewhat intimidated to be here. After all, I am
no scientist or PhD in anything, just a violin teacher
in a small town in Colorado--it is great to be in your
company. :)
However, I am a violin teacher wondering what to do
for my next career. I spent 20 years in graphic design
and communications, returned to school for a music
degree, now teach some very gifted minds in a private
studio (the greatest challenge in this being
convincing them all that they can and should be better
than I), and find myself thinking that ten years from
now I should be doing something else, for I will have
contributed great amounts already to the muse and will
likely have very little to offer once the freshness of
my offering is long stale. Anything after that is just
earning money. I cry, "Disservice!" at myself in the
mirror.
I couldn't tell whether Walford or Hayflick said this
in the article, but:
"I'm not going to be satisfied with only going to be
80 or 85 just because a lot of other people don't know
what to do with their lives," he replied.
is a wonderful response to a lot of objections to
extended lifespans. My parents tried to teach me that
I would graduate from college, work for the same
company all my life, then retire at a predetermined
age and get the hell out of the way (polluting the
skies with continuous exhaust from an oversized tin
can, the windows from which I would gawk at all the
beauty in the country that is being destroyed by
pollution--ha!). It's a good thing I have no intention
of doing this, or of collecting Social Security--I
don't believe they are going to be possible for me.
Could be wrong.
These parents smoked and drank themselves out of a
long life--their parents and grandparents lived to be
near 100, and bore their children late in life. I also
had my children late but do not risk my life with
pollutants of the body, and feel I have not lived half
my life yet--I am 44.
But just as some of us feel that we don't have the
right or reason to live long, others feel we don't
have the right or reason to die when we choose. Dr.
Kavorkian is still in jail, I believe, and I still
hear in my social circles that "so-and'so had no right
to kill himself even though his life was unbearable by
any standards, blah blah blah...God...blah blah
blah...the Bible says...nothing is worth giving up
your life for except God and Country..."
Don't know if this is worth commenting on, but have at
it! Thanks for a great mailing list!
Merriss
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