My life has been blessed. I have made it to the age of forty seven with little in the way of major problems and my health is the best it has been for years. There are some age related problems that I deal with but all in all, I'm very happy. It never used to be that way. I was a baby born into the change filled days of the mid sixties and remember many of the events from those heady times. Yet, even as I took in all of the happenings around me in southern California and then in other parts of the country, rarely did I ever get to take part in them. I'm not talking about war protests or Woodstock nor free love,etc. I was certainly too young for that even though I remember them quite well. What I'm referring to are the many parts of society I was forbidden to be part of. I was raised from age 6 on as a Jehovah's Witness. And in this very religious organization, I was kept from participating in, listening to and viewing, most forms of entertainment that were available then.
What did I miss? Wow, where do I start. Other than the usual things JW's were and are still not supposed to do (with no real Biblical reasoning) are holidays, birthdays, school dances and functions such as parties, after school sports and many others. So therefore I didn't get to participate in a LOT of things while growing up. And what about the world around me? This is what I missed...
At least if it was due to the cost, I would have understood better.
Same goes for Led Zeppelin. They were at their height when I was really getting into rock music. I had a few chances I COULD have gone to a concert but admit I was still a bit younger. This rock group along with most others were on the NO list of mine for verboten music. I had to sneak in what I could from the radio and listen that way. Fortunately my parents were not super strict so I did have a bit of leeway there. Some of the groups on the photo there are ones I got away with. 
Wow, after looking at that photo of all those groups, I realized how many of them really sucked. :-)
But, even though they sucked, I wanted to be there to listen to them as this was THE music I was attracted to. In addition to classical music, which I still adore. But I had my "tough" side I wanted to show as was rather limited in the way I could show off. What was one way a kid of 12 or 13 could do so and possibly make a future for himself? Guitar lessons! My mother had been taking them for years from various teachers, usually playing folk and pop numbers on her acoustics. Me, hell, I would have none of that nonsense. Rock guitar was where it was all at and my favourite then in 1978 was Eddie Van Halen. Truly, if I had been a "normal" kid growing up in the late 60's and on, my guitar gods would have certainly been Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Carlos Santana and a host of others. Not Van Halen. Don't get me wrong. He is a great guitarist and I love him to death as an artist. But I wanted more blues based music and Hendrix and Page were mine. Yet, I could not listen to them. So, Van Halen it was. And I proceeded to start guitar lessons. I wanted to play NOW. Not two years from now. Yeah, that does not work as expected. I was simply not good at guitar. And I had way too many other interests at that age.
No wait...I was not only bad at the guitar...I was horrid! So that didn't last long.
Another area we couldn't partake of, was movies. No, not ALL movies. But anything R rated for sure, no way. Even if your parents were there to watch you and get you in. THEY were not supposed to be there either. Yep, adults couldn't watch them . I missed so many films from those days that I finally sneaked away to rent or see if possible.
Films like Slapshot and others that were not ok to watch but approved for live and in person sporting events. Oh, only as a spectator though. never a participant.. Ugh
Well....like the title says above for the blog post: Always late to the dance. I have felt that through a very large part of my life. I was always the LAST to hear about something, get to see it, do it, enjoy it, etc, etc.Then what happens? Bang, I wake up and all of those things that I had previously been forbidden to do I CAN do. Sure, many of them are way past their time. Always a decade or two late it seems. I didn't get to do most of these things till after 2008, when I left that religious group and became enlightened. My eyes opened to the past. Of course, I was also looking towards the future and most especially, the present. But wow, what did I miss in my years growing up? So much I cannot begin to scratch the surface. After leaving, I started to visit those things. The bands, the music, the films, arts, literature, sports and so much more!!! It was like a rush of blood to the extremities when you are cold and walk into a warm place. That "ahhhh" moment that we all enjoy when life and pleasure flash up to knock us on our asses and say " Here I am you moron! Where have you been?" Yep. I had that moment many times in that delightful year and enjoy such moments every day now. Life is all there for the taking. Look at what has happened since I was born into this America I love. I'm blessed to be able to live now and even more fully after leaving. I don't feel hatred nor discontent at the past and what I was raised in. I did learn a lot and was well educated enough to, at least, type a blog post up and take care of myself. But eyes wide open, I believe these things:
My life is now being lived in the moment. Where everything around me is an incredible experience and some major exploring still needs to be done. I CAN try playing the guitar again if I want to. Listen to what I want and not be told "no". I can go to concerts, watch films and participate in any sport I want. I chose running. Yeah, they probably would have forbid races as too competitive. Ugh again. So the last six years have been a true delight as I explore what I missed.
I might be late to the dance but at least there is some time left in the evening of my life. I hope to live my last half to the best of my ability and to enjoy it all!!!!
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