The Hit List - Age is not a barrier

As she sat across me at the tarot table, she spoke with wistfulness about her long-lost dream to be a novelist. She had given it up eons ago to work for a corporation and settle into family life. She liked her life but yearned to write…one day.

I asked her why she doesn’t just start now.

“I’m too old and I have kids.”

Wow.

Not many things leave me speechless but that statement might as well have been a roundhouse kick in the gut.

She had accepted some “lot in life” and seemed resigned to it with a shrug and a grimace.

It didn’t matter how many good cards I saw or what kind of encouragement I offered. She had officially retired from creative life because she felt old.

Listen up: age is not a barrier to your dreams. It’s also not an excuse to settle for a ho-hum existence that doesn’t light you up. There are plenty of daredevils who defied the admonishments to “grow up” or “act your age” or “you’re too young/old for that.”

Tim Gunn began his television career at 50.

Tavi Gevinson started her fashion blog at age 12.

Grandma Moses didn’t begin painting until age 76.

Laura Ingalls Wilder published her first book at age 64.

Benjamin Franklin founded the first public library in the US at 25.

Nadia Comaneci got a perfect 10 – at age 14.

Diana Nyad swam from Florida to Cuba at age 64.

Catch my drift?

You have the choice to begin going after your dream now – no matter how young or old you are.

(PS If you tried and failed before, there are also plenty of people who failed miserably before they made it. So failure isn’t a cop out either.)

Stop making excuses.

Don’t create invisible barriers in your mind.

Commit to your dream.

Don’t give up.

Keep at it.

You’ve got this.

TaoZen is almost 11 years old! Look at that face!

Other stuff:

Are you having trouble figuring out your life’s purpose? Use these 7 Strange Questions to find yours.

Good news: drinking wine may be better for you than hitting the gym! Bottoms up!

In another life, I would have been a makeup artist. Which is why I get googly over any sort of makeup tip like these 17 hacks.

I know what I’m getting my kids for Christmas: this hipster coloring book for grown ups! Ha!

Loved seeing homegirls Tara Gentile and Alexandra Franzen on this list of 25 Incredibly Useful Websites Every Entrepreneur Should Bookmark. Hell yeah!

This post about the pet detective who reunites pets with their families warmed my heart!

You may know that I have a vast collection of Big Eye art – and I am chomping at the bits to see the Tim Burton Big Eye movie. This trailer oughta hold me.

What not to do on an airplane. Ewwww…..people are so gross.

Wish I would have had a cool high school yearbook picture like this! (It’s not too late for me ‘n TaoZen to create that!)

This lawyer is in big trouble for photoshopping herself with celebrities. (She did a pretty good job of it too! She may end up with a new career.)

I wondered what happened to my old pal Tom from MySpace. He’s doing killer photography now.

Nathalie Lussier makes brilliant videos for entrepreneurs. Loving the latest: How To Stay Ahead of the Competition and Copycats. (Biters have been the bane of my existence.)

The 1978 Rock ‘n Roll Olympics? YES YES YES.

When you’re emo and hungry: the Gothburger.

I LOVED talking with Anne Samoilov on how I use intuition, energy, and meditation to run my business. This might be one of my favorite interviews, ever!

Oh how I admire Meryl Streep for THIS.

Steven Bright over at Tiferet Tarot has some fab posts that you need to read if you love tarot. Check out In Focus: 3 of Wands for starters. Then move on to his Tarot Tips for Beginners. See what I mean? Super useful and most excellent advice for tarot lovers of all levels.

Beware of the Backseat Tarot Driver from Nurturing Tarot. I’ve come across those types. Not easy to work with, trust me on that.

What I’m Grateful For:

A weekend to myself

The promise of chocolate

A stack of magazines waiting for me

The nuzzle of a cat on a cool morning

Honest friends

Hard working peers

Original thinkers

Soundtrack for 9/20/14: It’s Time by Imagine Dragons – because it is time.