Reinvented - Steven Tyler Style!

Recently I have been fascinated with people who are in the process of reinventing themselves.  Last Sunday at church I was talking to a young couple we know. They were telling me that they are selling their house in the suburbs and moving to a condo in the city.  One reason for the move is they will be closer to work, within walking distance.  The other reason is that the move brings them closer to the people they serve through a local organization that works with homeless youth.  Their work with this group has become so important to them that they changed their entire lifestyle to devote more time to what they love doing.  This young couple is reinventing their lives to be able to provide service to a group of individuals in need. 

It seems I have been surrounded by people who are in the process of reinventing themselves recently.  Some are making changes to simplify their lives.  Others have reached the end of a career and are taking what they know to develop new jobs or work in other fields.

Last weekend I was working around the house and my husband, the Pack Rat, called me.

"Carolyn, there is a new show with Steven Tyler on it.  You should come and watch this!" 

Now I am probably a marginal Aerosmith fan.  I have seen them several times in person but have never been a raving fan of the band or Steven Tyler, their front man. 

"OK, I'm coming."  I reluctantly said.  So I joined the Pack Rat thinking I would watch maybe one song and move on. 

The show was the CMA songwriters series, Front and Center.

(http://www.frontandcenter.com/cma-songwriters-series-steven-tyler/)  Steven Tyler was performing his body of songwriting work but in an unplugged format.  He was backed by a group of young musicians and the songs had a definite country music bent.  

So watching maybe one song ended with me sitting through the entire show and loving it!  I have told several people about it and now am writing about it.  What really struck me was hearing those songs in a new format, performed by wonderful musicians.  Steven seemed to be having a great time working with this group.  Overall it was an experience where I realized that here is someone else who has reinvented himself, and has done it quite well. 

So reinvention is happening all around us.  It can be a young couple changing their lifestyle to better serve their community.  It can be a baby boomer like me who left one career, went back to school and now works with college students, loving every minute of it.  It can be an old rocker, like Steven Tyler, who re-imagines his music in a new format making it fresh again.  

How will you reinvent yourself.  Think about it.  Change is happening all around us.  You can choose to be part of the change.