Ah, another blogging opportunity. How wonderful. I never have been at a loss for words!
Tonight I’ve been thinking about the passing of time. Season following season. Sunrise, followed by sunset. Life is a merry-go-round. And it seems the older you get, the faster that old wheel spins. And after you reach a certain age, this youth obsessed culture we live in can make you feel kind of like a shadow on the wall, with no real substance and not much to offer.
But tonight, my spirits were lifted because after a stressful day, I put on the music of Paul McCartney, and immediately felt better. No, it was more than that. My spirits were soaring. Sir Paul is 66 years old. He has been a Quarryman, Beatle, Wing, Poet, Father, Front man, Producer, Business Mogul, Painter, and Knight. And he is still making music, touring, and contributing, at an age that a lot of folks these days would consider “senior citizen” status.
After Paul, I put on Buffy Sainte-Marie’s latest CD, called “Running for the Drum”. Buffy is 67 and her music is still just as vital as the days when she was the darling of the mid 60’s folk scene.
And these are just two examples of many I could name.
Then I laughed when I read these lines from a new friend of a certain age: “I feel like I’m “lost in the middle ages” because people look at me and see a gal who is on her way down the other side of the hill, and I see myself standing on top of that hill planting a victory flag”. Reminds me of Dylan Thomas’s quote: “Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day, Rage, Rage, against the dying of the light.”
I think we need to start seeing aging in a new way, and to value what we see. After all, as Satchell Paige said “Age is a question of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.”
