Ramblings of An Elderly Person

One can’t help but ponder on the when and the how once one has reached an age where the Grim Reaper is just round the corner. I’ve been told that I’m morbid when I asked the questions “How long before we kick the bucket?  What will be the manner of our exit?”

Just yesterday I received a message that someone had died in the shower. He must have had a stroke while taking his shower. That was a very sudden and unexpected exit. 

Next came a message telling one how not to begin a shower by pouring water on the head. That could cause a stroke. The right way is to wet yourself from the feet up.

I wonder how many of us senior citizens ponder the question of when and how.  I often do. I also wonder what would happen to my websites, my FB wall and pages and my books on amazon.com

When I’ve exited, how will my online friends know? My children don’t live with me except for one but she’s not familiar with my websites or FB pages. She wouldn’t know what to do with them and the others have no idea of my websites or my books. 

Perhaps they would exist until the hosting expires and the websites sink into oblivion. My online friends would wonder what had happened to me. I guess they would soon realise that I had really disappeared off the face of the earth.

What would happen to my laptops? There is a wealth of information in them and thousands of photographs. Would they know to delete it all before giving them away? 

Perhaps I should begin writing a list of what to do, including the instructions of how to do it, upon my demise, so that one of my children could do the necessary, tidying up after me, closing accounts, announcing my passing online so that my friends will not wonder about my disappearance.

Hmmm, it will be quite a long list!!

Tweet

Writing A Book

The process of writing a book is much like that of conceiving a child and bringing it into the world. Much like but not quite, if you know what I mean.  You need a man and a woman to mate in order to conceive a child. In the case of a book, you could go solo or you could collaborate with someone and brainstorm together all the ideas you both have.  Generally, it’s more of going solo.

Ideas germinate and you write down everything that comes to mind. Later on, you look at what you’ve written and begin to make a mind map so that the general mess takes on form.
You can see the structure of your plot, a main plot, sub-plots. Ideas for your characters develop and
you flesh them out.

It can be quite exciting to plot your characters’ roles and their traits.  There will be characters you like and those whom you dislike. With these skeletal outlines drawn out, you can then begin to write your story.  Very often it happens that the story leads you on.  It seems to take on a life of its own and you’re just the scribe, writing it all out.

Writing is a slow process.  You tend to go back a few times to read it and then amend it. Once you’re happy with it, then you get on with the mechanics, that of proofing and editing. With that out of the way, you could let it lie for a while and do something else.

Then after a few days, you may want to look at it again, read it out aloud and mull over it. If you’re happy with it, then you need to decide whether it’s going to be a digital version or a print version.

These days it’s not difficult to upload your manuscript into Kindle Direct Publishing and have your book live online. Of course you would need to have a cover for your book.  This is where you may want to outsource to someone who’s a graphic designer who can design a good cover for you.

Amazon generally takes a day to review your book and they will inform you when your book’s live in their store.

So there, your baby has been born. That’s not the end of the story! You would need to promote and market it, so that it gets exposed to more people. When people like your book, they will buy it from amazon and you get a royalty.

This sounds simple but in effect, it isn’t, really.  The writing may be the easy part while the marketing and promotions are really challenging.

Tweet

Journey of Life

Have you ever wondered what your journey is all about?

Man these days, on the average, often exceeds the three score and ten years’ life span, thanks to medical advances and a better idea of maintaining a balance in life.  We try to avoid undue stress, eat healthier and keep to a regular exercise regimen.

Once you have acquired your academic qualifications, you begin to build a career, find a mate, get married and build a family. You and your spouse nurture the children, work very hard to educate them and to give them the best that you can afford.

When they grow up and leave you to build their own future, to begin the cycle you have just completed, you are finally left with time to do what you like.  You have some retirement funds. Many would go travelling, to visit places they used to dream of.

Some would turn to religion and spend their time helping other people; others would embark on hobbies, gardening or golfing.

I wonder if they ever think of what the future holds for them.  How many more years do they still have on earth?  Are they prepared for the time of departure?  Are their affairs in order so that family left behind would not be clueless over what to do?  Have they left a will or will they die intestate, creating problems for their loved ones?  Where do people go after death?

Death comes at a time that is most unexpected, even though a person may have been ailing for some time.  So long as they are healthy and are capable of looking after themselves, most people would continue to do what they like best.

It would be good to know that one has made a difference when one leaves this earth, that one will be remembered for the lovely memories left behind.

Tweet