Welcome to another inspiring episode of Late Boomers! We’re your hosts, Cathy and Merry, and today we’re diving into topics that truly resonate with so many in our community: letting go of perfection, embracing life’s messy middle, and finding ongoing joy in reinvention. This week, we’re thrilled to be joined by Lorie Kleiner Eckert—author, fiber artist, motivational speaker, and author of High on Life—whose honest wisdom and humor shine a fresh light on what it means to age boldly and with intention.

In this episode, we chat with Lorie about the meaning behind her book High on Life (and yes, we even unpack the meaning of "chai"), the powerful lessons drawn from her Jewish heritage, and the value of imperfection in our “third act.” We explore why so many of us are obsessed with perfection and get Lorie’s no-nonsense advice for those feeling stuck or hesitant about reinventing themselves—no matter their age.

We also touch on essential topics like destigmatizing therapy, the healing power of journaling, honoring our ancestors authentically, and using humor to tackle life’s challenges, from body image to aging and self-doubt. And for all you creatives (and non-creatives!), Lorie shares how her passion for quilting has shaped her storytelling and connection with audiences everywhere.

Key Takeaways from This Episode:

1. Chai means “life” in Hebrew—a concept that inspires finding joy even when life gets tough.
2. Perfection is overrated! Embracing “good enough” leads to more joy, resilience, and self-acceptance.
3. Reinvention isn’t just possible at any age—it’s something we all have experience with, and a simple two-step approach makes each new chapter manageable.
4. Mental health is for everyone—normalizing therapy and journaling can help us process, heal, and thrive in everyday life, not just in crisis.
5. Honoring our roots is a lifelong journey; remember to credit past generations, but see their struggles with honesty, not just nostalgia.
6. Humor truly is healing—being able to laugh at life’s curveballs helps us own our stories and reclaim our joy.
7. Small victories matter! Keeping an “accountability log” or quick journal can help you celebrate daily steps forward and remind yourself how magnificent you are.

If you take just one thing from today’s episode, we hope it’s the encouragement to write down your own stories, in whatever form works for you. Whether it’s a funny snippet from family life or a simple list of accomplishments—these moments are your legacy and your proof that you are always growing and reinventing. Life doesn’t have to be perfect to be meaningful.

You can find High on Life wherever books are sold, plus Lori’s companion journal on Amazon. To connect with Lorie and explore more of her stories, visit loriekleinereckert.com.

Don’t forget to subscribe, share this episode with a friend who needs a little inspiration, and keep living boldly in your third act. We’ll be back with more conversations soon!

With gratitude,

Cathy & Merry

P.S. – If not now, when?

Mentioned in this episode:

Late Boomers is part of the eWomenPodcastNetwork.

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Welcome to Late Boomers, our podcast guide to creating your third act with style, power, and impact.

Hi, I'm Cathy Worthington, and I'm Merry Elkins. Join us as we bring you conversations with successful entrepreneurs, entertainers, and people with vision who are making a difference in the world.

Everyone has a story, and we'll take you along for the ride on each interview, recounting the journey our guests have taken to get where they are, inspiring you to create your own path to success. Let's get started.

Hello everyone and welcome to Late Boomers, the podcast where we talk about reinvention, resilience, and living boldly in the second half of life. I'm Cathy Worthington.

And I'm Merry Elkins. And today's conversation is one we think a lot of our listeners will truly feel in their bones.

We're talking about letting go of perfection, embracing imperfection, and finding meaning and even joy in the messy middle of everyday life.

That is so true because so many of us were raised to keep going, don't complain, and hold it together, even when that came at a personal cost.

Our guest today challenges all of that with wisdom, humor, and and a refreshingly honest voice.

She's an author, fiber artist, and motivational speaker who has spoken to more than 22,000 people.

We're so happy to welcome Lori Kleiner Eckert, author of High on Life. Lori, welcome to Late Boomers.

Well, I'm so thrilled that there is a Late Boomers and that I fit the category.

Absolutely.

I know, you're probably one of the only ones.

We hope so. Well, there's a group of us, a large group of us. But Laurie, your book is titled Chai on Life. Can you explain the meaning of chai, and that's spelled C-H-A-I, and how your Jewish heritage shapes the book's unique approach to everyday wisdom?

Yeah, the, um, there's so many meanings for the title of the book that we could write a whole book on that. So yes, it is, a lot of people call it Chai on Life because it looks like chai tea, and that's a perfectly fine thing to call it because it's a comforting book, you know, and so chai tea is comforting. So I like, I like that. But my intention was a high on life, and chai is a mystical word in Hebrew. And if you've heard the toast, l'chaim, to life, that's what it means. It means life, and it's a good luck kind of charm too. So when I wrote this book, I was high on life, and, or that's where I hope people will get, in spite of the fact that life is difficult. I'm not a Pollyanna.

Life is difficult, but it's still enjoyable and so forth. So high as a Hebrew word, and I don't know if you have Jewish friends, but some would say Hanukkah and some would say Hanukkah. That's just, yeah, it's the same thing.

It's sort of like Adam Sandler, Hanukkah.

You got it. Yes. Adam Sandler. Yeah. So, um, so, uh, but I choose to say it high so that it sounds like I'm high on life. But if people wanna find it at Amazon or any bookstore, they have to remember the chai tea.

Yeah. The chai tea.

Yeah.

So how does, how does your heritage, um, the Jewish heritage let me say that right, the Jewish heritage that you hold dear. How does that shape your approach to everyday wisdom?

Yeah, well, I think that we are all, you know, composite of everything that we've done in our life. So I've been a Jewish woman. So, so some of my stories might have something, I would say. So there's 36 stories in the book, and I'd say maybe 8 of them, or I don't know, 10 of them maybe, or have something really Jewish in it. One of them would be— well, I like to say that High on Life has stories ranging from topics on belly fat to Billy Joel, and, and the Billy Joel story does have a really specific Jewish tie-in, uh, in that I went to hear his concert, um, and it was in the fall of the year, and when he sang Big 'Big Shot,' everyone in the stadium, thousands of people stood up and sang 'Big Shot' with him. And I don't know if it's Rolling Stone or one of those kinds of magazines has called that his most, you know, ticked-off song in his, you know, in his whole batch of songs. And, um, and I happened to be there in the fall of the year, which is the Jewish high holiday season, and at Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. We start to reflect on our lives and on Yom Kippur, 10 days later, we look for atonement.

We look for forgiveness. We, we apologize to people we've harmed. And in the end, we are forgiven. God forgives us. So, um, so here is Billy Joel enraged on the stage and thousands of people enraged with our own brand of whoever the big shot is. And I thought to myself, Billy Joel is earning royalties on his anger. I'm not, you know, so there's no benefit for me to walk around with this anger. So that's how my Jewish heritage comes into it, and I think it's an interesting perspective.

I think it's a great perspective. It is. Yeah. Yep. Yep.

Really good. Yeah. A core theme of the book is rejecting perfectionism in favor of good enough. So why do you think So many of us are obsessed with perfection.

Oh gosh. I, I don't know. I have always been, I think we're wired that way. I'm wired that way.

Me too.

Yeah. And I think I also, if someone would give me a pat on the back and say, job well done, I would know, you know, a story in the book is called In Praise of Praise. And it's like my parents didn't believe in praising my brother and me because we would get swelled heads. Uh, and then when my parents saw me interacting with my children and praising them, they said, you know, you know, they'll get 12 heads. And it's like, but if I didn't tell them they're doing a good job, how will they know? So I think that lots of us need that pat on the back and we don't readily get it. We really need to be able to give it to ourselves, but we don't. And so we keep striving for perfection because if you're perfect, Well, there's— of course you did it right, you know. So, um, but you get yourself into so much trouble over it.

So I think all of these things are instilled in us by parents. My mom would say, uh, why is it an A-minus, you know? And she didn't mean to be cruel. She was never cruel. She was like the most loving person. But I think We all get that perfectionism. We didn't— we weren't born with it. We learned it somewhere.

Yeah.

Yeah. That's probably true. And my dad was an immigrant and immigrants notoriously, I don't know if that's the right word, but they always want their children to do better than they did or than they were allotted the opportunities when they came to this country.

Right.

Right.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, we all have, I mean, a work ethic is a good thing to have, you know. And when I was a college student, when I was a high school student even, my mom and dad would say to my brother and to me, do your best. It didn't make any difference what we brought home on the report card. Did you do your best? You know, and I really needed that pat on the back. And so it was like, well, gosh, did I do my best? Well, if I studied 5 hours, I could have studied 6, you know, and I kept escalating like that. And so instead of just doing my best, I did everybody's best. I'm a magna cum laude graduate.

I could have been a summa cum laude, but anyway, um, but that's how I've worked, worked at it. And it makes for a really tough life, which is one thing that's nice about getting to the boomer stage is there's a lot of things that get easier and you realize that you don't always have to make brownies from scratch and that, you know, that you, you can fudge a little bit.

Yeah, sometimes they're just as good. Um, I want to pivot a little bit here and talk about reinvention because you write openly about it. So what advice do you have for people who feel stuck or if they're wondering if reinvention is still possible at their age?

Oh, I see. I define reinvention different— differently than most. So I say that we have all reinvented ourselves scads of times, and therefore we have lots of experience at it, and therefore we can do it again at any age. And in fact, we will do it again. So I think of everything, every time we've turned a corner, that that's a reinvention. And I divide it into happy reinventions— you got married, you had a baby, you graduated college— and sad ones— you got a medical diagnosis that changed things, you lost a loved one, you You broke up with your boyfriend. You flunked a college course, you know. So there, so we have to reinvent ourselves after all of these things.

So my—

Every day, maybe.

Well, sincerely, sincerely, I think so. So I think that, you know, so my pat on the back to everyone is saying, you've done this 100 times and how did you do it? You know, you've got a college degree, but What do you do with it? You know, you have to look for a job, you know. So my, I have a very easy recipe for reinvention in High on Life. And it only has 2 steps because when you're, when it's a sad reinvention, if someone's passed away or whatever, you really just want to be on the sofa with your head covered over, you know, with a blanket. So my method is very simple, only 2 steps. The first step is Whatever is your normal routine on a good day, you know, like before that horrible thing happened, that's what you have to do. So I'm sure you brush your teeth. I'm sure you shower.

I'm sure you get some amount of sleep that's right for you. All of those things that you do when life is good, you have to definitely be sure to do all of that when you're in a, in a tough reinvention. And then after having that healthy routine for you, Um, you have to take one step a day in the direction of your new life. Just, just one step a day. And so, and I also like to say, if you, uh, you know, like if it's a positive reinvention, you just got the college degree, now you're making phone calls to look for a job or you're doing internet searches or whatever, you might have a really good day where you do 17 somethings toward getting a job. And great, good for you. Let me pat you on the back, but tomorrow You only have to do one. You don't have to give yourself the pressure of that.

And I suggest that you have an accountability log so that you write down the date and what you did. And then, Merry, to your comment, really, we are reinventing ourselves daily, and especially as we get older and the hips aren't moving as well or whatever. And so what did we do today to make life a little bit better, easier to reinvent ourselves into the The person that we are today. Yeah. Yeah. But oh my gosh, you can reinvent and you can reinvent and you can reinvent and you have. And that's another thing. If you do have an accountability log, which doesn't have to be anything fancy.

My first one was a green spiral notebook from Kroger, you know, from the grocery store. Um, but maybe, you know, turn a few pages towards the back and write down like your, um, your resume, everything that you've accomplished. And don't forget to include that you were in charge of the bake sale for the Girl Scouts 20 years ago, because all of these are things that you've accomplished, and you helped raise $200 for the elementary school, for goodness' sake. Good for you. So to develop a list for your down days to remind you of how magnificent you are.

That's such a great idea.

Yeah, I love that. I think all of us should do that because I think we do discredit little things like that and we don't realize those are character builders. That's why it's how we got where we are right now. Um, I want to ask you, you're a stigma-free advocate for mental health, and why is it important to normalize therapy for everyday life, not just for crisis moments?

Well, I, um, um, let's see, I do have a story again in High on Life, um, that, that talks about this. So I personally started counseling when my son was 14, and I ended counseling 20-some years later when the therapist retired. Feel no embarrassment in telling you this. She became a paid professional friend. We only got to talk about my problems. We didn't have to talk about hers. And she remembered things that I forgot and reminded me of things that I forgot. So I, I think that, uh, I, I, where I ended up in the story in High on Life is that, um, was with, or where I probably started, where, why I wrote it was it was after the suicides of Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spade, who had everything, or so it seemed to all of us.

And yet they couldn't go on with their lives. So, uh, and that story ends with the suicide prevention hotline. So, um, but I also want my readers to know that my problems were terribly insignificant. You know, what sent me to counseling when my son was 14 was not that he was in a gang, not that he was flunking out, nothing like that. He wasn't even talking back to me. What the problem was is that he was getting himself and his friends to the mall after school and needing me to come get him when I was cooking dinner at rush hour. That is not really a, that's a first world problem, you know, and in High on Life, I apologize to those women who are working and then have to come home and wonder what they're going to cook and then cook and don't have a car that's reliable. I have had, I, my life was so easy compared to so many.

And yet that was overwhelming to me and I sought help for it. And so as I kind of laugh at myself over it, it was my problem. So. I took it to a therapist and we talked about it and we talked about it and we talked about it and everything else that came its way. And then of course, over the 20 years I saw her, my mother died, my, I got divorced. Uh, you know, I had a couple of relationships that came and went, a lot of stuff that it helps to have a voice of reason. And that's what a therapist is. And people can do therapy online now.

You can do it, you know, on Zoom. Go for it. Why not?

Yeah, it doesn't work as well. I don't think it's, it's that personal touch. I mean, really just being in the room is—

yeah, but I think a lot of people prefer and they're more likely to do it if they do it on Zoom or FaceTime because there's— they don't have to drive anywhere, especially in LA traffic or whatever. Wherever you live, or if you don't have transportation and that kind of thing, it makes it very accessible, which in the old days nobody had.

That's true.

So I think it's really good to take advantage of that, and I love your story about that. Yeah, I do too, because it wasn't a big— maybe to someone else, but it— that's where the stigma-free thing comes in, because You didn't attach a stigma to it for yourself.

Oh no. And in that story, I had listened to an NPR, uh, uh, radio show. They weren't podcasts, I don't think, back then in the 1990s. Um, and they talked about stresses on the fam— on families for not having enough money. And then they went through the different, um, you know, different socioeconomic groups. So they talked to someone who was struggling to put a roof over their head and then work their way up to somebody who was earning a million $1 million a year and was having trouble finding a stable for their horses, you know. So in both cases, these people had problems, but very, very different, but still could benefit from talking to somebody.

Yeah, we all have our own issues and our own insecurities, no matter how much money or fame or whatever it is that we believe we have. We still are that person possibly who thinks, well, is that really me? I mean, I'm faking it. But that— what is it? The, um, that—

what is it?

Imposter syndrome.

Yeah. I, I'm just here to tell you life is difficult, and honor whatever feels difficult to you, um, and talk to someone about it. Maybe you have a good friend. Maybe that, that works. And another thing that I do suggest in High on Life, I talk about the many reasons, several reasons to write in a journal. And one of them is to, to break down your problems. And I believe that every time you tell someone your problem, which includes writing it in a journal, you give a little piece of it away. And so, so tell a friend or, you know, or do counseling if you can.

Uh, and certainly journal writing is, is a really wonderful thing to do as well.

Well, you've got me thinking, uh, when I mentioned my father about past generations and how do you honor past generations without romanticizing the sacrifices they may— that may have cost them deeply.

Yeah, I don't think we ever really give our ancestors the credit that they deserve. Um, uh, you know, so I'm Jewish, so not only do we honor Holocaust survivors, but we honor children of Holocaust survivors. But what about survivors of World War I or survivors of World War II or survivors of Vietnam, and then the children of all of those people? So I, I don't think that we give enough credit to, to the people that came before us. I, I don't. Um, but that's a process of a lifetime also, to figure out a way to honor your ancestors, don't you think, Merry? Are you writing about your family or anything like that to preserve it?

As a matter of fact, I've done that. Yeah, books put in the drawer right now, but yeah.

Well, somebody's going to find it and it'll come out of the drawer. Maybe it'll be you.

Possibly.

And I, I want to ask you, how do you use humor to tackle serious topics like fear and body image and aging and self-doubt?

I kind of feel like I am Lucille Ball. If you had, when Johnny Carson had Lucille Ball on the show, she was, she wasn't at all funny, you know, and I don't know that I'm at all funny in real life, but somehow when I tell stories, I find the humor in them. And, um, and so, so that, that's what it is, you know, so if you have a fender bender Or you get pulled over by the police for something, or, you know, or whatever, the pipes break in winter. When you get enough distance on it, there is, you can tell it in a fun way and it makes fun of yourself even. Um, one of the, one of the stories on High on Life, could I be promoting that book? Uh, uh, is called That Time That I Needed a Husband. And it was about, you know, um, the pipes breaking in the, uh, in the winter. And, and when we turned the water back on outside in the spring, I suddenly had very wet carpeting in two rooms in my house, plus a hole in the wall where water had gushed through. So, um, it was horrible.

Yeah. Just titling it like that. Yeah, makes you see the humor in the situation.

Well, exactly. And where I got with it as I wrote it, do you remember the movie, I think, with Shelley Long and Tom Hanks, The Money Pit? And they, they buy a big house that's a money pit, and everything that they're fixing, they say to the contractor, how long is it going to take? And he says, oh, 2 weeks. The answer is always 2 weeks. So I use that as a running gag in my story, but by the end of the story, I say, if you ask me when my basement is going to be— my beautiful new basement is going to be complete, I'd have to say 2 weeks. But I'm laughing now, uh, you know, I say it.

And how long has it been?

Yeah, well, it took several months, but it really— it's beautiful, you know. Uh, so yeah, so I think, um, pain plus time— isn't that what they say— equals humor. Isn't that what comedians tell you? So Yeah, so I think that's where it is. And then also when I was the motivational speaker person, so I, uh, for 10 years I, um, entertained audiences. My visual aids were quilts that I made that had words and symbols pieced into the design. And I've always, in my current book and all the books I've written, I'm telling the stories of my life, hoping you can glean life lessons from them. And, um, where was I going to tell you about? About this? Hmm, I don't know. And I don't know.

Oh, I know what I was going to tell you. And so, um, I illustrated my talk with quilts that had words and symbols pieced into the design. But I didn't just take it to quilters because quilters didn't pay well. I took it to every group from PTAs to Procter Gamble. And the shtick that I gave, the, the story, you know, the program that I presented, showed whatever 12 quilts I was speaking about. I ultimately had 3 different sets of 12 quilts, but, um, it wasn't a canned speech, but I knew what made the audience laugh. So I made sure that if I had gotten a laugh last time on this story, that I told it again. So you have a quilt that's shaped like an hourglass and it says, if not now, when? Um, and Um, I, uh, and it's part of, uh, the full quote is from a rabbi, Hillel, who said, if I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am for myself alone, what am I? And if not now, when? So it's the golden rule, basically, you know, do unto others and do it now.

So my kids were little when I read that during the story, and we were out running errands and we stopped at the drugstore for candy on the way home. And my two older children got M&Ms and my little one, Lisa, who's her siblings were 5 and 7 years older than she. She got Skittles, and when we got home, she wanted to share candy, which is great. I taught her to do that, you know. And they would have no part of it, so they went running off upstairs, and she stood at the bottom of the stairs so mad, and she shouted after them, well, if you won't share your M&Ms, I won't scare my Skittles. So we always got a good laugh for that because she's You know, there's some, there's some moral to that though. She got her words, uh, confused, but I clapped her on the back and I said, way to go, kid. Of course you're willing to share with your brother and sister, but if they're not willing to share with you, you have to take care of yourself.

That is an important life lesson. Absolutely. And when I use that 'If not now, when?' in High on Life. Every story in High on Life has a full-color image and a one-line takeaway to go with it. But when I use that 'If not now, when?' story, not that story, a different story about those words though, I use it to talk about self-care. And so when I—

Well, let's talk about self-care and let's talk about living authentically. Using your self-care. What does that mean to you? And also, talking about self-care again, embracing your, as you say, blossom identity— how has that changed your life? Yeah, I love that word. Yeah, yeah, I love it too.

Blossom. Yes, well, I am blossom, and one of the things that's wrong with me— I'm tall and I'm thin, but I have a belly. And I say I'm flossom because I understand where that belly came from. It came from having those 3 wonderful children that I have. So that's, you know, really, where does self-care come from? If you don't take care of yourself, who's going to? And I think that there are 2 kinds of people in the world, the givers and the takers. And if you're a giver, you can be running on empty really fast. But you have to remember, um, that golden rule that you're, you're part of it too. So you have to do unto yourself a little bit.

So that's where self-care comes from.

And like your daughter, about sharing.

Yes. Yes, exactly. Yeah. So that, that story in High on Life has 3 takeaways all about self-care, you know, stuff like You know, what if you devoted today to loving yourself? Hmm. You know, what about that? That would be a great idea. And, uh, we're blessed, uh, as, uh, uh, in this stage of life that things are a little bit slower. And so we're, it's a little bit easier to fit in a little bit better than it is.

I agree. I agree. So tell us how quilting because that's very unique, and public speaking influence your storytelling and how, and your connection with audiences?

Well, so when I got divorced, I had been a stay-at-home mom for 21 years. I was 42 and I needed a job. And so I thought I would turn my hobby of quilt making into a paid profession. And, um, and what, and I'm a very good quilt technician, which means that if the fabric has Christmas trees, they all stand upright, none of them. Or taking a nap, you know, that kind of thing. I know how to cut the fabric right, but I don't think I'm the greatest quilt artist. So when I started off, I was just gonna, I was thinking that I was going to market myself to quilt audiences. Um, but what makes me unique is I was making quilts with words pieced into the design.

So the words said bloom and soar, come as you are, you're lovely, if not now, when? And, um, and So, um, one morning after making a dozen quilts, uh, with words in them, a slightly more poetic version of the words was running through my head, and I got up and wrote them down and realized that a book had been written. I didn't write it. I made the quilts, but the book had been written. And this was a series of vows you might make to yourself as you start a new portion of your life. Me, I'm getting divorced, you know. Uh, but the vows start, I love you is the sequel. With acceptance and love of the self, the story that must come first, and toward the lofty goal of love, I journey forth today making these vows to myself. And then you gotta bloom, you gotta soar, you gotta do it if not now, when.

And so that's where the— so I started off telling the stories behind the quilt. You already heard about the story behind the If Not Now, When, um, and I would tell the stories of my quilts, the stories behind them, to develop concepts of self-acceptance, self-esteem, uh, power of positive thinking. No rocket science here. There was no rocket science. And I would tell my audiences that my degree is in elementary education. I'm not a psychologist. I can't tell you how to live your life, but I can tell you stories of my life. And if you, if they resonate with you.

Go for it.

So did forgiveness, uh, was forgiveness a part of your quilt and how do you see that as a personal necessity and talking about self-care, part of self-care?

Yeah. Um, forgiveness, uh, yes, it was there because there was a quilt, uh, in that first book that says change is, and it was illustrated Oh, changes with a period. So end of sentence. My mom, when she was being firm about something, she'd say, period, you know, we're not discussing this any further. So the quilt says changes, period. And it's surrounded by a quilt pattern called Ocean Waves because the ocean waves roll in and roll out and roll in and roll out. And they change and they change and they change and they don't feel guilty for it. So that's where forgiveness came in in the early days.

And now forgiveness comes in, uh, for me, um, back with that Billy Joel story. So, um, in Judaism, on that high holiday, uh, on Yom Kippur, when you get forgiven, when you ask for forgiveness and you make it, you atone for your sins and so forth, at the end of the day, you are told that you are forgiven. And so if God can forgive me, I have to forgive myself because otherwise I'm holding myself to higher standards than God. You know, that's insane. So I— forgiveness towards myself, I don't struggle with as much as forgiveness towards others. You know, you done me wrong, you know.

So it is kind of a revelation when you know somebody that has held a grudge against somebody for a long time, and when they do forgive them, you do see them open up. Because I had a girlfriend that was really angry with her mother for a long time, and I used to say, you really need to let go of it, forgive her, you know, she didn't know what she was doing or whatever. And eventually she did forgive her mom, and she became such a different person. It was really interesting, like more calm and like not so hyped up and stuff. It was really amazing. So it does become like self-care because we feel better, right?

Yeah. Well, I'm going to tell you, you have to write that story also. It's important to get these stories down. That's a beautiful life lesson.

Well, I'm not a quilter, but that, that is good. Yeah. And how do you reclaim joy? In small victories and everyday moments?

Well, I, I think that I'm just grateful. I just see that there are lots of things to be grateful for. And so that's, that's where the joy is. Um, uh, the, a quilt that I have not made, but that I have designed says Uh, goes with the expression, the joy is in the journey. And the reality is that the word journey starts with J-O and ends with Y. So take that with you. That's a beautiful message from above. The joy is in the journey.

So you have to find the joy in the journey and you have to be grateful for really every little thing, you know, so, um, So I'm actually developing a new thought on this, that, that there's a kind of left-handed way to be grateful. And that is to take any situation and tell me how it could be worse. You know, so you had that fender bender, how could it be worse? Someone could have been hurt, could have been a whole lot more damage, could have been rush hour, how embarrassing to stop traffic. And so. That gives you gratitude for what's just a fender bender. Does that make any sense?

So, yes, it does.

So I've been thinking in those terms lately, maybe since the pandemic when, um, when we didn't have a plan B, we just had to take what we got. You know, here we are at home and can't see the kids and can't have dinner with friends and stuff like that.

It's like a late boomer problem.

Yeah, yeah.

And well, yeah, the people, the young people who were in school at the time of the pandemic were hit the worst, and they'll never, they'll never get that time back. And, you know, they missed their graduation, or they missed— so I hope those people can find some kind of solace in knowing that some good things came of it. From being home with the family or something they can look toward.

Well, I just think that if you, um, if you sit down and think about it, you'll come up with a lot of things. So my story, 30 reasons to be grateful at my granddaughter's soccer game. 30 reasons to be grateful at a soccer game. But, uh, the funny one that everyone laughs at is that another grandma had her shirt inside out, but it wasn't me.

So You know, so, oh, but you know, why have I heard that so much about people wearing shirts inside out? I'm, I'm like freaked out that I'm gonna do that someday because I've heard so many people complain about their mother doing that or something.

Oh, you could be so grateful that you haven't done that. That's a reason. I'm sure.

Well, that's sort of like being flossom if you do.

Yes. Oh yes, definitely. You'll be perfectly flossom then.

So Lori, what's, what surprised you most about writing this book?

Hmm. What surprised me the most about writing this book? I guess my, um, I have 5 books in print and the first 3 were published by a traditional publisher and the 4th one I self-published, so I guess it was shocking, surprising, wonderful to find a traditional publisher again in Bancroft Press. And yeah, yeah. And I do get to—

we know that's really hard. We interview a lot of authors and most of them do self-publish, and that's really wonderful.

Yeah. And congratulations. Yeah. So I, I think that that was kind of surprising and Um, and my experience with the publisher Bruce Bortz was kind of comical too, because I gave him, I gave him 18 stories. Another meaning for high is the number 18. So 18 is a lucky number in Judaism. So I gave him 18 stories because this was going to be 18 stories about being high on life. And he, uh, he said that he really needed more stories than that.

Could we do 36? And I forget exactly how he worded it. But I said to him, am I understanding you correctly? If I give you 36 stories, we have a deal? And it was, and he wrote back, yes. Oh, that was easy. I can do that. So many of the stories from my own life, there are, as I say, 36 stories, about a dozen are brand new and about two dozen had been published before, many on my, on my, uh, in my personal blog on my website. So it was like, yeah. I can get that to you tomorrow. I've got a whole, you know, storehouse of stories that are evergreen.

Not everything I write is evergreen, you know. I like, you know, I'm writing one, I wrote one this recently on podcasting. Well, that's, you're not going to want to read about podcasting in 15 years. But, you know, the ones that I write about significant birthdays or, you know, You know, lifestyle, life cycle events for the family or whatever, or death in the family, you know, those, those are evergreen. So I plucked the evergreen stories and I really think like maybe not the next day, but 2 days later, I gave him 36 stories. And, um, and I really thought he'd say, oh, I don't like this one. I don't like that one. He didn't.

Oh, great. Okay, good. You know, we're satisfied.

Yeah.

Bravo.

Yeah, well, if listeners could take one idea from High on Life and use it tomorrow, what would you hope it would be?

I would preserve their own stories. Their own stories are magnificent. And even if it's a little funny snippet that the child said, you know, I'm not gonna scare my shittles, or, you know, that kind of thing, write it down because it's going to be gone otherwise. So I would say start some kind of a journal, and it could also be part of your accountability log. So if you are reinventing yourself right now, one thing a day, teeny tiny step forward. Yeah, but write it down. I've encouraged both of you to write stories, and that, you know, I've got a lot of great stories. You do too.

You do too.

Tell them.

Yeah, that's important. You're right.

Yeah, that's That's great advice. Thank you, Lori. Thank you for your honesty. Thank you for your humor and of course your generosity. Thank you. And if not now, when shall we all be that way?

And thank you for reminding us that life doesn't have to be perfect to be meaningful.

Love that.

And you can find High on Life wherever books are sold, and her companion journal you can get on Amazon. And also you can reach Lori on her website, loriekleinereckert.com.

Should we spell that, Lori, for them? You want to spell all your names?

Yes, it's all smushed together, no spaces. Yeah, L-O-R-I-E-K-L-E-I-N-E-R-E-C-K-E-R-T. But I'll tell you, I am so all over the internet because they seem to put a— I have written 175 blogs, I've written 250 book reviews, I've written so much that all of those seem to pop up one by one. So if you Google Lori Kleiner Eckert, the first thing that's going to come up, and probably any spelling, you know, the first thing that's going to come up is my website, which is great for you to have, but all these stories will pop up. So I'm really easy to find. And if your listeners want to find— really find me, Lori at LoriKlettnerEckardt.com.

Ah, excellent. Well, thank you to our listeners today for listening to Late Boomers. Please subscribe and share with a friend. And until next time, keep living boldly.

Thank you for joining us on Late Boomers, the podcast that is your guide to creating a third act with style, power, and impact. Please visit our website and get in touch with us at lateboomers.us. If you would like to listen to or download other episodes of Late Boomers, go to EWN Podcast network.com.

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