"Your past is your story up to now. The future is the story yet to come. The present is where you live with that experience, your hopes and your dreams."

Opening Remarks: Giving Thanks

Featured Article: Follow Your Bliss, Do What You Love

My dad used to say that the reason he joined the Air Force right out of college was because they would pay him to do what he loved, which was to fly airplanes. He couldn’t believe his good fortune!

A lot more went into that career than flying into "the wild blue yonder". He had to deal with authority and eventually rise to those kind of positions. He served for 26 years and reached the rank of Full "Bird" Colonel. There was bureaucracy, power struggles, conflict and war. Through it all, however, he got to fly and he was good at it. He did what many people long to do, but too few actually accomplish. He followed his bliss.

That saying, coined by Joseph Campbell, essentially means to do what you love to do. We all have dreams and we all have special talents or gifts that our heart and soul desire to use. If you get to do it in your life you’ve done something really special.

I was chatting with my college buddy and former radio colleague the other day. He’s from Oklahoma and we met at OU (University of Oklahoma) in 1975. John Florence is an expert on music and he was the guy I most wanted to talk to after the great Leon Russell recently passed away. John is down home and honest. He gets to share his knowledge and incredibly good taste in the selection of songs he broadcasts each morning on a community radio station in Salt Lake City, Utah. The show, A Brand New Day on KRCL features songwriters and music that have shaped his generation, which also happens to be mine. We are gray-haired and wrinkled, some would call "seasoned", but back when we were bright-eyed college idealists we dreamed of following our bliss and having radio shows with creative freedom and an opportunity to share the music and songs we love. "I’m just getting to do what I’ve always wanted to do," John told me.

A lot of good people have passed on in 2016. Many of the musicians and songwriters that have made a difference in my life are among them. But I have to get used to it. They are all getting long in the tooth. Fortunately, many of them are still alive and still doing what they love. Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Van Morrison, Eric Clapton, Chuck Berry, Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, Neil Young, Carole King, James Taylor, John Prine and a host of others are still with us and they haven’t yet "retired".

I know many "regular" people who have spent much of their life doing what they love. Most of them aren’t rich or famous, but they are making a difference in the lives of others and that has a value beyond a dollar sign.

Thanks be to the teachers, preachers, nurses and doctors, artists and artisans, storytellers and writers. On the verge of another Thanksgiving Holiday your contributions do not go unnoticed or unappreciated. Keep following your bliss – you are walking a worthwhile path and setting an example for others to follow.

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Featured Resource: Personalized Journey Markers

Closing Information

Any comments, ideas or feedback is greatly appreciated. Just reply to this ‘zine and tell me what you think!

Until next time, – keep your story alive!

Tom Gilbert