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The “At Least I’m Not 40″ Edition

Turning 36 isn’t exactly a milestone. It’s old enough to remember when I used to think 36 is SUPER old. But it’s also young enough to understand that it totally isn’t.

If nothing else, birthdays are as good enough a reason as any to take stock of where you are in your life. What choices have you made and could you make better ones? What have you learned? What don’t you know? How the heck did you get here, anyway?

All in all, I’ve ended up at 36 via a very strange an uncharted process. In fact, I’m not entirely sure I’ve ever done anything the way it’s supposed to be done.

When I talk to people about their college years, it’s hard to relate. Unless I was in class, I wasn’t on campus. I worked. Lived in Center City Philadelphia and commuted to class on the subway every day. The subway which would eventually be responsible for introducing me to Johannes.

I got married in Germany a month before my 22nd birthday. Everyone said I was crazy. I was too young. Fourteen years later, people still tell me it’s too young. Hmmm…..seems to have worked out pretty well so far.

At the time of our wedding we owned a 1983 baby-puke brown VW Passat with racing stripes. That was all we owned. It included the “Franz Schmickler Ignition System” – clearly installed by some intrepid or aspiring German mechanic who once owned that car. We called her “Schmicky” and drove her to Finland.

At the time, there was higher than 20 percent unemployment rate in Finland. Great place to start a career.

Actually, it was.

It forced us to think creatively about work. Johannes worked his way up for next to nothing at a post-production shop (in between stints to the army) learning every part of television production while I cobbled together a career leading business executives in simulated American social events. Golfing in English. Dinner in English. Small talk.

We were so broke at times that when my parents came to visit they were afraid I had an eating disorder because I was so skinny.

Unlike America, you see, the poor people in other places aren’t fat.

Through all that, I found out I was pretty entrepreneurial, fairly adept at identifying business problems, and good at communicating solutions. And I had enough moxy to not know that I was out of my depth. Combining those skills with my love of writing when we returned to the States four years later, I found myself in public relations.

Go figure.

I look at today’s youth here, facing similar obstacles in our dire economy, and I can’t help but think some interesting creative solutions are going to emerge. Our future bodes well in the hands of these youngsters who are going to have to do things in new ways. They already are. I recently read an article about a young man who, after searching hopelessly for employment in the States, took a job in India working for an English language paper. He found a solution and is in the process of gaining remarkable experiences that he probably still doesn’t entirely appreciate will lead to huge advantages for him in the future.

Not to say that inspiration comes only from the young. I read another story about Scott Tucker, a 48-year old guy from Kansas who always had the dream to drive in the “Superbowl of Racing” – Le Mans. Last month he did. Despite the fact that he never stepped FOOT on a race track or behind a race car until he was 44. Clearly Mr. Tucker wasn’t listening to the people around him who I’m sure were saying: “Are you nuts?!”

I think I owe a good deal of who I am to the fact that I never took someone else’s plan and tried to squeeze myself into it. My parents are a big part of giving me the confidence to do that. And I hope I can instill that same drive in my kids. Because there’s not a whole lot of “supposed to’s” in my history, I’ve had the opportunity to get to know a lot of amazing people who also don’t fear failure so much that it gets in the way of them doing things “wrong.”

When I fast-forward to today, my 36th birthday, I find myself leading communications and branding for one of the largest players in the western US seafood industry. And I’m not terrible at driving a forklift. I’m even getting brave enough to get past the whitewash on my surfboard.

This weekend, for my birthday present, Julius is going to likely be the youngest runner (at age 7) in the Seafair Torchlight 5k Run. He’s surfed, ran in races, played shortstop in little league, scored a “best all around” award in his soccer camp and basically taught himself how to swim. And while he once drank pee on a dare from his friend, he still makes me laugh every day. His comedic timing is insane. How’d I get such an awesome kid?

And then Josi, who shares her brother’s funny bone, is tough as nails but still enamored with dress up. While for her playing the “princess game” involves for some reason “shooting four ducks”* she manages to keep up with her older brother without losing her feminine charm. She rocks.

I have to say, we’ve had our ups and downs. We’ve lived in our Jeep and seen more of this country than most. There’s not a whole lot of boredom in our lives. Whether it’s a new project or business venture, or some other experiment, we never lack for something to scare the crap out of us. It’s a healthy sort of fear. After all, as professed in my favorite movie Say Anything, when everyone says you are crazy, when nobody thinks what you are going to do will work, “you just described every great success story.”

Of course, that same film is home to this gem of wisdom that I’m certain inspired more than a few children of the 80s:

So to all the people out there I’ve had the privilege to know along this journey and have helped me along the way, thanks for being a part of the insanity. A special thanks to my parents who 36 years ago today were in a hospital room across the street from the insane asylum where they were filming “One Flew Over the Cukoo’s Nest” when they heard: “It’s a girl.” Thanks for continuing to be a source of support and encouragement for me.

And to the people I have yet to meet, I can’t wait to see you. I know you’ll be awesome.

*she doesn’t actually shoot any real ducks. Just pretend ducks with a pretend gun.