About Me — Kim McKinney

I like to be happy.

Oh, you may think, who doesn’t?

I see so many who don’t, at least they appear not to. They set up their lives for drama or dullness and wait for others to come along to fix it for them

I learned a long time ago it’s no one else’s job to make me happy. That job belongs completely to me.

I constantly marvel at life. So many normal days, just walking around town, I think “I get to do this.”

I live in a small city in North Carolina, north of Charlotte, called Statesville.

We’re known for having the second oldest hot air balloon festival in the country (behind Albuquerque’s Fiesta), our own hot air balloon manufacturer (Firefly — known for its triangular baskets), and an active hot air balloon community.

As you may guess, chasing hot air balloons is one of my hobbies.

I love to travel, though have no idea how many countries I have visited. I also cannot tell you where most of the eclectic souvenirs that are all over my house come from. Does it matter? Well, a bit. I wish I had journaled when I traveled because I have forgotten so much.

It’s not old age that has made me forget — just living a full life and ADHD.

I guess I should talk the ADHD and dyslexia because they are certainly part of who I am.

While others hate this part of themselves, I love it. Well, I love ADHD. My mind is constantly moving and jumping from place to place. It allows me to be creative and a great problem solver.

Not everyone is going to appreciate this about me. Some people have problems keeping up in conversation, as I can carry on several at the same time.

This is not all ADHD, but it helps. The other part comes from being raised in a loud, vibrant family who all seem to be able to carry on this conversation rhythm even though they don’t have ADHD.

We both scare and intrigue people who come to our family dinners.

Dyslexia, on the other hand, has presented some limitations. My case is mild compared to most — I can’t reverse mirror images. That means anything that requires a mirror or needs me to flip what someone in front of me is doing, challenges me.

Think, for example, of using a curling iron. I can’t do it. My attempts over my lifetime have become a family joke. They’re pathetic.

It also limits me when someone is demonstrating how to do something that requires hand-eye coordination. Yeah, it’s not my forte. We still giggle about a crochet class I took with friends.

Thankfully I come from a family of people who are awesome at using their hands. I was not placed there by accident. I need each and every one of them.

I loved reading even before I could read. Once I could do it for myself, I seldom was without a book in hand. My childhood punishment was having to go outside to play without a book.

A good story will always brighten my day. That’s also why I love writing. I love telling stories.

Loving a good story makes life so much more bearable. Job difficulties, travel roadblocks, family or relationship drama — those who know me know that when things go wrong my motto always is, “But it’s a much better story this way.”

I was a Broadcast Journalism major in college but looked too young to get coveted reporter jobs when I got out.

I worked as a houseparent for teens in a group home (modern-day orphanages) for about a year. I was hired to work with girls, but finally convinced them working with boys was a better fit for me.

The girls were great liars and master manipulators. They drove me nuts.

The boys sometimes had the manipulation down, but it was more overt and they were easy to catch in lies. They could be violent, but I dealt with that fine. Being young helped. Remember I was a young-looking 21/22-year-old.

If a hand was raised to me I reminded them that the judge would take my side over theirs any day of the week. They’d draw back that hand and say “You know I was just kidding!”

As an adult I am amazed management allowed young me to be the “mother” to 15–16- year old boys. I was made for that job, though. Unfortunately, a life of a houseparent is not a great long-term prospect for someone in their 20s. I had the wisdom to know I couldn’t stay.

I moved to the city where my long-time best friend lived. She paid claims in an insurance company and got me a job there and let me live with her and her husband until I found an apartment.

I never went back to broadcast as I intended. I stayed in the insurance industry, working in all kinds of different jobs in the employee benefits arena. I still do contract work in that field.

I lost a consulting job at age 58, due to corporate downsizing. I wasn’t devastated. The truth was I probably never should have worked for that particular company. I should have left during my first year. I stayed 14.

I thought I could make things better. A company has to want to get better for that to happen.

I realize now the company was not bad, just set in its ways. They were, and are, successful. They simply were too cookie-cutter and image-conscious for someone like me, who is quite casual in my approach. I bonded well with my clients but struggled with my usually intense co-workers.

I looked for jobs after the layoff but found that at age 58, though a young and vital 58, I was considered old. It’s a weakness of corporate America I believe they may regret someday.

I hated job hunting the way it is now. My biggest issue is often those involved forget job hunters are human.

I had few issues with the early stages. They put your resume through an algorithm and if you come up wanting, you get a form rejection letter. If you hit targets, you get a phone interview.

Oh, I think it is silly and they miss out on a lot of awesome candidates, but I could live with that.

What I hated was the sheer number of interviews it took to get a job. Does the whole company really need to pass judgment? Then many have the gall to ask for free work to demonstrate your effectiveness.

After a while, I saw I was giving up intellectual capital for free. No wonder they interview so many- a free idea bank! Why wouldn’t a company continue to interview people if they can keep collecting this info?

I finally started to look at my life from a different perspective. What was important in my life? What wasn’t?

Loving my life was important. Owning a house and having lots of money, not so much.

I realized if I sold my house in the current market I could make enough money in equity to carry me to normal Social Security retirement. I did. It was a great decision.

I don’t consider myself retired, exactly. In fact, my goal is to avoid digging into my retirement savings as long as possible. I write and do contract work, enrolling people under benefit plans during open enrollment. I keep intending to add a few more income streams, but life seems to get so busy not working!

My mom has Alzheimer’s and lives in a memory care facility. Thankfully I have four siblings who share the load. I have discovered that while I am not a great caregiver, I am a great advocate.

I’m single with no children. I never married, and no one was more surprised by that than I was. I always expected it would happen. I would have been a great wife to the right man.

I have always been a bit quirky and a weird blend of conventional/ unconventional. I needed a partner who could accept a balanced relationship and wanted the fun to be a core value.

I needed someone who had a deep faith in God but didn’t think they knew all the answers and accepted people wherever they were. While I didn’t realize it when I was younger, I also needed someone with a sense of adventure who could help me face fears instead of staying stuck in them.

Still, my life has been full and fun and challenging — and it’s not over yet! I plan to travel as much as possible in the next few years.

Next year (2023) I plan to go on two major adventures. I hope to do the Camino de Santiago in the spring — the 500-mile pilgrimage through France and Spain. I plan to take two months to do this and savor the experience. That’s one thing working full-time never allowed me to do.

The next trip after that will be to Antarctica, probably in December. This has been a dream of mine since my twenties, but the cost made it seem impossible. We should find ways to make our dreams happen when we can and it’s time for me to quit thinking this is an impossible dream.

I love life and am grateful for every day. I plan to keep living it fully as long as I am gifted with days.

Thanks for reading! I hope our paths cross, be it through Medium or “real life” or both.