Songs to Aging Children

It is New Years Day.  Among watching the college bowl games, I thought a bit about it being 2011.  It occurred to me that this year marks the 40th Anniversary of my high school graduation. This quickly turned into a chain reaction of thoughts that end at the resurrection of an old idea that I think I will put into action.  I am almost ashamed to say it may be, you know, something akin to a resolution.

What is the idea?  It is to create a blog for people of my generation as a follow up to a piece I wrote in November 2008, http://thissideoffifty.blogspot.com/2009/01/november-2008-was-it-weirdest-of-times.html.  My premise was that coming of age in the late 1960s and early 1970s was a unique and weird time to grow up.  We were of the Woodstock Generation in which we, well at least I, bought into the notion of creating a better world where peace reigned and where everyone was supposed to get back to the land and live a natural style of life.  It was a time of great social change led by a combination of the Civil RIghts and Anti-War movements which in turn led to Women’s and Gay Liberation.   It was complicated by the popularity of drugs and emergence of Free Love.  It was a unique, weird, and exciting time to come of age.

We are  that generation.  We are the baby boomers, the first generation in the world that grew up with television.  We were the first generation where having a college degree supplanted the magic and need for just a high school diploma.  We were the optimistic generation.  We could change the world... nay, we believed that we would change the world even given the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King.  We were the Levis generation that wanted to buy the world a Coke.  And to top it off, it was fueled for the most part by some great Rock N’ Roll music that peaked in that great Summer of Love.  

Since I wrote that November 2008 piece, I have wondered how others in my generation (Talking ‘bout My Generation) felt about what they were thinking then and how things actually turned played out forty years later.  So, I am thinking of creating this blog space and encouraging everyone and anyone that wants to express their story.  I think it would be a great forum for expression and discussion.  Here are some thought starter questions that I would to see this blog explore.

• What did the movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s mean to you?
• Did you believe in the ideals of that era?  Do you still believe?  If yes to the first and no to the second, how and why did your beliefs change?
• Did you sell out to the man or even become the man?  How do you feel about that?
• Did you buy into the generation gap?  Did it strain your relationship with your parents?  How did it feel watching your own children pass through adolescence?  Did you become your parents?
• Did you hit any of the major events?  Woodstock?  The peace protest in Washington, DC?  Were you in San Francisco in the Summer of Love?
• What did you learn in those days that remains an integral part of your life today?
• What did you learn, do, or think back in those days that you are quite happy are not part of your lifestyle today?

I encourage anyone that is motivated by this topic to submit a posting.  I will moderate and approve the postings.  I may also suggest some editing to make your posting more interesting and engaging.  You can post under your own name or anonymously.   The point is to get some good memories, good reflections, and good discussion going in this area.  

I am going to moderate the comments because, quite simply, I want this to be a positive experience for all.  If someone posts something honestly maybe as a catharsis or to get something off of their chest, I do not want to see them berated in the comment section.  As was Bill and Ted’s motto:  Be Excellent to Everyone.

So, what do you think?  Is this a cool idea?  If you think it is a cool idea, take a shot and express yourself.  I would love to hear what other people are thinking and reflecting on our adolescent and college years.

Songs to aging children come,
Aging children, I am one...

Maybe Joni Mitchell will even post something...

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Here is the new blog:  http://songstoagingchildren.blogspot.com/
The posting here is also posted there and should be the only joint posting.
Consider submitting your story, your thoughts, your reflections, and reminiscences.  Send them to mgavoor@gmail.com