Getting Old? How Bad Can It Be?

As a middle aged, 53 year old man, I'm feeling "wiser" every day! Although, when I get up from bed, I seem a bit sore. Actually, I feel as though I have been beat by a baseball bat. I go to the doctor more then I use to. I seem to come into the room and then forget what I came in there for. I'm just thankful for my beautiful wife that keeps me on the straight and narrow. She's my rock!

I seem to go to the bathroom on a regular basis. I used to drive trucks for a living and could hold my urine for hours! Not any more! It's like having to go about every two hours or so.

Today I painted some then played my music on my guitars. I have two acoustic guitars. One is an Epiphone and the other is a Fender! My Electric guitar is an Ibanez.

Sometimes I just love to get a nice bottle of red, go to my man cave and play. Oh! I almost forgot! I also play the piano by ear. I love music. I was raised up on good old fashioned Stamp Baxter Gospel. I was under the spell of the Happy Goodmans, the Hemphills, the Oakridge boys before they went country! Then I went to school and was exposed to the Classics! Of course my Aunt Peggy exposed me to the Beatles as we rode down the road in her Mustang. The rest is history! Gospel, Rock, Classical, Blues, Rockabilly, Country, Blue Grass, Jazz, Hip Hop, it all moves me in some manner! Whether it's tapping my foot, nodding my head, snapping my fingers or shaking my bootie. It's a fact!  I love music!

Dance is such a profound part of mankind. We have been dancing since the beginning of man! We danced to tell stories. We danced to began the mating rituals. We danced for love. We danced for war. We danced for joy! We danced just to be dancing! The movement, the timing, the passion is intoxicating!

King David of Israel, Danced before the Lord. King Solomon says, that there is a time to dance! No where in the pages of the Bible has it ever forbidden anyone to dance. That is a fact. Go Ahead, Look it up.

In the time that I have been alive, some amazing things have happened. The Berlin wall was built and torn down. We discovered space by putting rockets into space, landing on the moon, circling the Earth, as well as putting a space station into space and a robot on the planet Mars! Now NASA is taking applications for a one way trip to Mars.

Why would I want to do something like that? Why would I want to die on Mars? I guess that they would freeze me, so that I would wake in about ten years. Then wouldn't I just die of lack of oxygen? Lack of Water or food? Maybe NASA is looking into this WORM hole theory of traveling thru space using Fusion Power? String Theory or Einstein's Theory of Realitivity. What if he got it wrong?

Who knows? If you have followed my blogs, I have spoken about my Ant Theory. Maybe, we are getting closer to seeing, contacting or finding other species in Space. Intelligent Life in Space? You have to know that we ARE NOT alone! As vast as space is you MUST know that we are NOT the center of the Universe, the Galaxy or Space itself!

For one to ignore the facts would mean that we must go back to the caveman existance. We must go forward in our exploring.

With that being said, Why have we not put hardly any funding into Ocean Exploration? There is so much for us to find! We are always finding new species! If we are finding new species on our own planet why would there not be new species in Space?

In terms of growing older, there are so many conveniences that have come to fruition during my life time. The Abacus was replaced by computers. Computers have been replaced with laptops, Ipads, Iphones and soon it will be implants!

Televisions have gotten bigger yet thinner and with more channels! Wireless is no longer considered Black Magic! The Internet has grown from a government communications program to a global, social being! The world now lives and breaths on the internet. Governments can be topled by Social Media and by viruses that invade our bandwith.

Microwaves, Nano technology, cloning, DNA, BioMetrics and on goes the growing list of Technologies that are permeating our existance! We continue on!

After all has been said and done, one day, I will retire. I will live my life out. I will be able to create more art, drink more wine, travel when I can.

Wouldn't it be great just to win the Lottery? Would it change me? People say that it doesn't but it does!
Your out look on relationships change. You are always wandering if people like you for your money or just for you? Your idea of personal space and security changes. Your idea of how to protect your money changes. You have too much money then just to put it in a bank. You have to think about Trust Funds, Individual Accounts, protecting it from over taxing by putting it into Individual Retirement Accounts. Of course you want to take care of your children, grandchildren or great grandchildren by putting money into 429 accounts. You have to put trust in a Personal Finance Manager, Attorneys and Accountants.
Your mode of travel changes. Instead of Coach you move to First Class or maybe you just use a personal executive jet to jetset around the planet. You go from driving your personal car to a limo or maybe being flown in a helicopter. See? There is change.

I'm always amazed how people win the lottery and they make so many mistakes and then you see them homeless or worse.

I would think that you should always plan for every contingency. Include your family in your plans so that they are on board when the time comes.

Growing old also brings us closer to the portal of life and afterlife.
Personally, I believe that you should have a will in place as well as a living trust. Don't be so stupid as to die with out your family knowing what is to become of your body and personal effects. This leads to fighting and hurt feelings among family members.
Let them know how that you feel about them and what they are getting when you die. Let them know, how that you want to be cared for if you are in the hospital near death. Let them know what kind of Service that you want or if you even want a Service. Maybe you just want a Memorial Party?

These are just a few things to think about. I don't know it all and don't claim to but I know that even I need to update some things.

Guys! Let's get organized and prepare for our next Journey. The Final Journey into New Frontier.

                                                   What are your ideas or thoughts?
           
                                         Lets start that dialogue.

Art, Music and Wine! Some Things Do Get Better With Time!

I have lived over a half century. I have seen leaders as well as governments rise and fall. I have seen fashion come full circle. I have seen art and music evolve. I have changed over the years.

There was a time when I was secluded and separated by rationales and beliefs. I was extremely conservative Christian in my beliefs. I am still and always will be a Christian but I'm liberated by Christ,

My Father was an alcoholic but since he had accepted Christ he had not touched a dropped. I never even saw him smoke a cigarette. He was strict but fair. I respected him for that.

I read my Bible and my eyes were opened. There was nothing wrong with having a glass of wine but it was wrong to be drunk and do stupid things.

The same was with music. I was shielded as a child. I was exposed to Gospel music and the Classics. As I Child that's all that I knew. My Aunt Peg introduced me to the Beatles. Pandora's box was opened! I secretly started listening to Rockabilly, Country, Rock and Roll, Blues, Jazz, Hip Hop and the rest is History!

I started singing on Sunday morning on the stage of the First Baptist Church. It was just a bunch of snot nosed kids but it was exciting to get up there and sing the B-I-B-L-E!

I learned that I had a great first tenor voice and people really responded positively to my singing! My Father being and Evangelist we drove thousands of miles going from Church to Church singing all the way.

I have played the piano since I was thirteen. When I was nine, my parents bought an Organ and paid for Organ playing lessons. I went to one lesson. Upon coming out to the car my Mother ask me how I liked the teacher. I said, "Mom,she was the worst teacher of all!" "Why is that, Honey?" She questioned. I replied,"She would point at the note on the music sheet and ask me, What note is that?" I would answer,"I don't know, you're the teacher!"

Four years later, I sat down on a piano bench and started tinkering around with notes and chords. I began sitting down and practicing Everytime I saw a piano free. It would be three in the morning and I would be playing. My father would holler down into the basement where we had an old piano and say,"Raymond, I can't sleep, can you please go to bed now?"
I played in Church and loved every bit of it!

Art has always been a passion of mine. Drawing, doodling, painting, sculpting it all gets my juices flowing!

I would Doodle in school. I was always scetching something! I simply loved art class in school!

I doodled in Church, at home, anywhere where I could find paper pencil or pen!
I am amazed when I visit the Art Museum in Cincinnati,Ohio. The masters are just simply genius in their brush strokes, their lighting and color is just invigorating!

My art is some what different but to some may not be different at all. I have a ritual and a mad genius to my art. I love my camera to put things into focus but then sometimes, I go to my inner child for my pieces! You can see my art on www.Raymondvision.yolasite.com or just Google Raymond's Vision. Please feel free to visit and give me your opinion. Maybe you like to purchase a painting or maybe commission me to paint something for you!