Out in New Jersey.com

 Written by Toby Grace Wednesday, 26 May 2010 11:14

"They" used to say that after 30, you are invisible in the gay world. That old chestnut has changed a lot in recent years as baby boomer gays leave that mile-marker well behind and are still leading active, interesting and sexy lives. With mid-life crisis, buy-outs, early retirement and down sizing as much a part of gay lives as straight, the question of "what of what do I want to do with the next phase of my life" is one many of us have to confront.

The days of finding a secure corporate berth and attracting cobwebs in it for the rest of one's working life, followed by a brief, pointless stint in a rocking chair or tacky little house in Florida are so very over! Let's face it, gays have a monopoly on creativity and edgy experimentation (we do - you know we do) and we reinvent ourselves more often than Kellogg's reinvents corn flakes - so why shouldn't we do so with our working lives?

Kerry Hannon gives us a book full of the fascinating stories of people who have done just that. How about a tough, female police commander from South-Central LA who becomes a music agent in Nashville or a professor who becomes a chocolatier or a banker who becomes a chef in a small town? Are these radical shifts? Maybe that's just what your life needs if 20 years in the same field has run you right out of challenges and new ideas. This book tells you how other people - ones just like you, have realized you are never too old to chase your dreams and guess what? You could very well catch them. The stories in this book are about people who have chased and caught. Let yourself be inspired to do likewise. We only get one life. Make it the one you really want to live.