Let's Find Our Way Back to Simple
When We Were Invincible is an upcoming series of three books written by Becky Kliss about what life in the 80’s was like compared to life now. It is written from a Gen-X perspective and is a must read for anyone who lived through the 80’s. These years were the crossover time for generation(s), who were the last and the first to do many things, especially when it came to changes in technology, values, and the iconic and therapeutic 80’s music. It will take you on a journey of humor, nostalgia, carefree memories, and heartfelt life lessons. Sometimes you have to look back in order to move ahead. The series will fast-forward you to our current struggles as 40 to 65 years-olds, and how we are coping with work, relationships, our own declining health and mortality, aging parents, the younger generations way of life, and the fast pace, technology-driven world upon us today.
The changes we lived through were real.
In the 80's:
Our Values included respect.
We earned what we wanted. We weren't entitled to anything but a roof over our head, clothing, and home-cooked meals. If you wanted a car or a TV in your bedroom, you worked to earn money to buy it. Nothing was on-demand and “instant gratification” or “entitlement” wasn’t in our DNA. We had time to think, time to process, time to respond, and most of all, time to concentrate and create. Multi-tasking wasn’t a thing yet. We appreciated and took care of what we had. We rode our bikes down country roads, miles from home without helmets, no cell phone, and no one worried. The rule of not talking about politics or religion applied, and we weren't divided because of it. You knew what respect was and knew the consequences if you didn’t show it. Our values were ironclad.
Technology didn't own us.
The 24-hour news cycle didn’t permeate drama into us, nor did the deciphering of what was true or false on TV and the internet. There weren’t 5,000 TV channels and streaming sites to choose from. We wrote notes in cursive to each other. Communication wasn’t dependent on technology. You talked on a phone attached to a wall, and weren’t glued to a cell phone. We spoke TO each other, face to face: no laptops, email, texting, or apps. We didn’t have a million distractions and options. We created our own entertainment. We got outside, built forts, played games, started a garage band. We rode our bikes, had slumber parties, and wrote stories. We worked on cars. We were like little MacGyvers, creating and inventing wherever our minds took us. What one of us didn’t think of, the other did. If we wanted drama, we had to create it. We were carefree, breathing the outside air instead of staring at a screen.
Music was our therapy.
We had Pop. We had Rock. We had those sexy bad-boy hair bands. We had Disco. We were the first decade to see music videos on MTV and VH1. It set our mood and helped us through difficult times. We found lyrical meaning and a connection just by listening. It spoke to us with the best tunes without obscene profanity (well, most of it). We became “one” with our music. We spent endless hours on cassette tape recorders making mixed tapes to define ourselves. When we bought an album or cassette, it was a BIG deal and we listened to it over and over until we deciphered the lyrics and knew every song. We made up dance moves, put the souped-up stereos in our cars, and drove with the music blasting. Concerts were our ultimate experience, bringing the posters on our bedroom walls to life. The music hit our core, resonating and lifting us all, each in our own way.
“Aging is an extraordinary process where you become the person you always should have been.” ~David Bowie