A decade is roughly 3,650 days. A decade is about half a generation. By the end of your first decade you’re in 4th grade. By the end of your second decade you are halfway through college. When I turned 30, I had a wife, a daughter on the way and a management job at the bank. Then the decades turn choppy and muddled, less linear. We mellow. The highs and lows even out. Our metabolism slows and we conserve energy. Conversations turn from career to health, from ambition to ailments.
In this past decade, my 50s, I have lived in North Carolina, Florida, California and now back in North Carolina again. My dad passed away; my mom got remarried. Both daughters finished college and married. The nest emptied. I had a stroke. The job market closed me out. In the aftermath, I’ve been on a hot streak, self-publishing my books and helping my clients with their debut books (many of those starting from an impulse, an idea, a kernel).
Entering my seventh decade, I have no idea what is next. Some days not much happens. On a busy day, two things happen and one of them is a trip to the grocery store. Given my family history, this is probably my last decade. I have no regrets whatsoever. I am grateful for family and friends, and small victorious moments when the words that I put on the page do not let me down. Time is slowing down even as it accelerates. I’m guessing this is the way it has always been.
Jon Obermeyer
Jon Obermeyer is a native of Santa Barbara, CA, with an MFA in Creative Writing from UNC Greensboro. The author of seven books, including two collections of poetry, two short story collections, a memoir, a book of essays and a guide to creative writing, Jon’s poems have appeared in The Greensboro Review, Northern Virginia Review, International Poetry Review, A Carolina Literary Companion, Spectrum (UC Santa Barbara), Blue Pitcher and Santa Barbara Magazine, and in the North Carolina anthology Edge of Our World. He edits business books and blogs on diverse topics. www.facebook.com/jon.obermeyer
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