Why they get no respect!

We usually discover them when we’re moving or cleaning closets. Magic boxes filled with cards and letters from family and friends.

Each card and letter a treasure with its personal message to no one but us. Ours alone to save and savor over the years.

But, see, here’s the thing.

How many envelopes have we thrown away over the course of our lifetime that contained something equally as special as the cards or letters they enclosed?

Now before you shake your head or turn up your nose convinced those envelopes were of no significance, think about this. 

Someone other than you handwrote your name.

Hey, we all recognize our own signature. And frankly, take it for granted every day.

But think how you felt as a young girl pulling from the mailbox your first piece of mail hand addressed to you. Your name scrawled on the envelope big as life. Not your parents’ names. Your very own name.

Or how it felt the first time you saw that a boy wrote your name on a Valentine envelope. You held it in your hand knowing his fingers, hand and wrist had dipped and looped just to create your name as only he could.

For a moment no one and nothing else had mattered to him. Only you as he spelled out every letter of your name. Again, as only he could.

The connection is beyond the message on the card or letter. The sender has a motive for writing “Dear Sue” or signing with their name.

An envelope is so much more. It’s like the person who wrote your name on it forever put your name in lights. Like on a huge billboard or neon sign on Broadway!

What do we do? We rip it open and toss it aside while we go straight for what it had selflessly delivered.

Envelopes. Time to give them the respect they so richly deserve. Together, we can lick this thing!

~ Diana
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

"why does this woman work?"

In 1975, the flicker of 50 birthday candles in the not too distant future, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis dusted off her resume’ and went to work.

Did she have to? No. And, yes.

No, because she had money enough to live extremely well.

Yes, because money can’t buy “me” love.

The former First Lady supposedly told a friend that she’d always lived through men. And she couldn’t do that anymore.

The suggestion of another friend coupled with her lifetime love of books soon led her to a career as editor; a damn fine editor.

Such a fine editor that she revised, corrected and updated some of her own personal thoughts and beliefs as well. Four months after John F. Kennedy was assassinated at her side, she’d shared that her opinions depended on those of a husband. One might assume she carried that conviction through her marriage to Aristotle Onassis.

But in an issue of Ms. Magazine in 1979, the cover posing a question “Why Does This Woman Work?”, Onassis wrote, “What has been sad for many women of my generation is that they weren’t supposed to work if they had families… the definition of happiness: ‘complete use of one’s faculties along the lines leading to excellence in a life affording them scope.’ It applies to women as well as to men.”

After tragedy and triumphs, as many aspire when we reach midlife, Jackie O. found happiness within. Though one might argue even she would have been at a loss for words to describe how much her two children filled her with pride and joy. She often said they were her most important responsibility in life.

Bottom line, when her kids were grown and a man’s values no longer determined her own, Kennedy-Onassis discovered something that allowed her to feel vibrant and alive.

Work. Work that didn’t feel like work.

Work she loved. Love that worked.

~ Diana Black
(content & grahic copyright diana black 2011)

Vibrant Nation!

Thelma & Louise: Who Knows Why

Did you see it coming? The end. Literally. You know, of Thelma & Louise?

I didn’t. I still remember leaving the theatre a zombie.

Two decades later, I lapse into that same shock and disbelief just thinking about the movie and those two characters.

If the film has impacted your then or now self, check out a recent article about its message and the lack of substantial women flicks these days. I won’t rehash the writer’s conclusions. They are well drawn and worth the read.

But before you click away, I’m curious. Do you identify with either character? Is it Thelma? Louise? A composite? Or is it more like no way in hell does either realistically portray you or women in general then, now or ever!

Note: In case any of you tend to confuse the characters (okay, I’m really doing this for me!), a little refresher, Susan Sarandon played Louise; Genna Davis was Thelma. (You know, the one who got lucky with Brad Pitt. Ah, NOW you, I mean, I remember!)

Well, having established who is who, back to that identity question. Personally, I’ve always thought of myself as the Sarandon character BUT with the name Thelma. (That right there says a lot about me and my split-personality.)

Yes, the one who does NOT get Kickapoo high school’s alumni. Because she had something better. A teal 1966 Thunderbird.


And, man, could that thing fly. Literally.

But I'm still not sure why...

~ Diana Black (art copyright 2011 diana black – all rights reserved. no reproduction or use without written permission)   Vibrant Nation!

why u r beautiful

Seriously. Can you honestly say you are beautiful?

Is it because your definition of beauty has changed over the years?

Has your need to be beautiful lessened or increased?

Is this you? You’ve suddenly blossomed into the vibrant woman you always wanted to be.

Or are you still struggling with the image in the mirror on those rare occasions you find courage to face it?

But, really, how much does “beauty” actually have to do with our lives? Is it just one of those overused words and ideals? Or is it the basis of all life? Of every woman?

“Beauty once seemed to me to be an accident of nature. …But now that I can see my life on my face, I realize we earn the way we end up looking. Time, it seems, gives us all a chance to really be beautiful.” – Ann Curry

So, is it safe to say that beauty has nothing to do with physical perfection? That therein lies confusion?

Perfection is often seen in terms of flawlessness and directly linked to beauty. Sure, that’s one way to look at it. But perfection as demonstrated by excellence is … perfection!

Can it be beauty is simply being the best we can be…physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually?

So, let me ask again. Are you beautiful? And I don’t mean when you’re dressed to the nines. I mean right now. Where you are this very minute. In front of your computer screen. In your nightgown. Hair uncombed. Nails chipped.

Do your lips have a slight upturn? Are your shoulders relaxed? Are you content to be reading about beauty and seeing yourself for the amazing woman you are? Does your heart flutter just a bit…falling in love with yourself all over again or for the first time?

Not because you’re flawless. (There’s always room for improvement!) Because u r beautiful.

~ Diana Black

On Vibrant Nation!

Why Women Boomers don't "beat around the bush!"

Please carefully read this short email thread (there’s a test!):

The tree person was here this morning to look at the pine trees and give a quote.

Do you like them so far?

Yes, I have estimates and they seem very nice.

So, who do you think composed these emails?  
A. two males
B. two females
C. one of each 
D. none of the above

Bravo! Yes, the messages were written by two females!

Seriously, guys just don’t ask the hard questions when it comes to determining qualifications for removing 5,000-foot pine trees tucked between two houses in a densely populated area.  It’s not about whether the company is insured, bonded or licensed for longer than two hours.

Good grief, no.  Why, Boomer Women understand there’s no time to “beat around the bush” on matters of such importance.  The following query is where the timber hits the ground.

Did the business rep:

·       Ring the doorbell and respectfully retreat to the edge of the porch?

      ·       Say “please,” “thank you” and “yes, ma’am”?
      ·       Wear their hat with the brim in front and shirt neatly
               tucked in, and appear to be someone who 
              invites their mother for Sunday dinner?

I haven’t confirmed this with my next door neighbor, but I’m confident she’ll choose a peach of a tree service.

One where everyone concerned adheres to the best practices and strictest standards—professionally and personally—known to all of humankind.

And where they report to the custodian of those principles weekly.

Sunday at dinner.

~ Diana

Follow Diana's blogs at Vibrant Nation! 

Why it's toodles to tofu!

Launching "fiftease!" to keep the fifties fun!

Got a suggestion for a future cartoon?

Please leave a comment, and if I use your idea,

I'll give you credit for the inspiration!

Keep smiling, and pass the french fries!

Diana Black

Vibrant Nation Blog Circle Member!

No Sissies Allowed!

Sisters, 50 ain’t for sissies!   Why?

• Oily facial pores turn into lava beds beneath six layers of moisturizing products.
• Willowy waists expand into redwood trunks after one bag of movie popcorn.
• Steel-trap minds unhinge at the drop of a…uh, what is it? Oh well, something or other.

Just sayin’ it takes courage to face and admit to being that ever-changing woman in the mirror.

 Someone, somewhere, sometime made this profound statement: “We admire a woman for the courage to show herself to the world as she is, and in the end it's the courage we find attractive.” Imagine we’d all like to thank this “unknown author,” wherever and whoever she is.

And also like to ask her if she always had the courage to show herself as she is. Or did it come easier after she reached middle-age.

Because in the big scheme of things, what’s a little dry skin? Or adding belt holes? Or…there was a third thing, but I forget.

So here’s to our fearless sisterhood, slathering as fast as we can.

Yet plucky enough to be good with however it plays out.

(Plucky. That reminds me, where are my tweezers? Or should I just break down and get the hedge trimmers?)

~ Diana Black

www.DianaBlack.net

Vibrant Nation Blog Circle Member!