gg asked on LOL day:
You strike me very much as someone who is getting older (as in - moving forward through time) but not aging. Would you agree? What do you attribute that to? What things do you do or not do that account for that? signed ~~ a lurker who is right behind you and trying to figure it out~~
At the risk of hubris, I’m going to say that I do agree with your assessment, miz gg. (As does SP, so we MUST be correct! ;-p)
But I think my honest answer as to why that might be is not going to be particularly helpful:
Mostly luck.
The universe gave me the right kind of mind and the right kind of parents to nurture that mind, and that keeps me out of the aging rut. Really, I am simply a vessel of fortune.
However, because I’m me and you’re you and that’s not a very satisfactory answer, let me pick it apart a little bit more for you:
I don’t want to say it’s attitude, precisely, because that’s a bit superficial. It’s more a case of elasticity - of being able to think outside the box - because I honestly believe that most “aging” (in the sense that you use the word) is the mental equivalent of hardening of the arteries. Most of us yearn for a comfortable routine, happy to find a nice little groove that carries us along… but comfort causes inertia, which causes rigidity, which causes stultification. Our well-traveled rut becomes the only one that we can see - appreciation for, and interest in all other grooves becomes lost.
I was recently at my 40th high school reunion and there was a terrific blues band playing. Yet only four of us danced (“My god, Jz, where do you get the energy?”) and the majority of the attendees bitched and moaned about the music. (“Why aren’t they playing the good stuff? You know, like Chicago or the Eagles?”)
Ummmm, maybe because that was 40 years ago and times change?
Several times over, actually…
I can’t do much about the passage of time or the incipient creaking of bones, but my outlook is always mine to do with what I will - and I’m fortunate in that mine tends to be open by nature, so there’s not much effort required to keep it that way.
Oh, and…
A sense of perspective and a good sense of humor.
These shall carry thee far, manling.
There.
I’m not sure that’s helpful but it’s an answer, by gum!
13 comments:
It's a good answer. Rheumatism of the body can strike anyone, as Aunt Jimsie said in Anne of the Island, but when you get rheumatism of the soul, go pick out your casket.
Good answer!! And yay for Aunt Jimsie - nothing like another Anne of Green Gables lover - unless it's a Pollyanna fan... :)
You have amazing insight to go with your elastic brain. Thank you for the thoughtfulness!
Great answers Jz. I have the same brain and I think we're about par on the sense of humor too. No wonder I love reading or stealing your posts so much. ;)
Amy
Oh this is such a fun answer. An elastic brain, fantabulous. We all need that to stay young at heart and have fun with life. Good on you for dancing at your school reunion whilst the others grumbled.
Hugs Lindy xx
mm-
Glad you thought so… and I love your literary reference there! So true…
o-
I always wonder if people actually read those quotes…
Now I know! :-)
gg-
I’m not sure that I deserve such praise but I’ll take it, thank you! :-)
And thank you for the question… I’m sorry it took so long for me to get to it.
A-
Golly… I didn’t realize I was sharing my brain… but it explains a LOT!
;-p
(teasing)
Glad you enjoyed.
l-
Yeah… I’m afraid I’m often baffled by the rigidity of others.
But then again, a lot baffles me… ;-)
WELL said my friend! I sometimes get shocked when I see me looking out of my eyes and see the realities of aging - hell I'm still ME inside. I am not a believer in 'creating an aged persona" as it were -but I know people who do. My BFF's mother (we've discussed this)- decided when she had her first grandchild (and she was literally in her late 30s) that that was it - she was 'grandma' now - kept her hair short, let it grey (nothing wrong with it - my cousin went grey at 30 and eventually said fuck it and looks AMAZING - absolutly beautiful and youthful- but there is a certain hairstyle that SCREAMS grandma and she had it) - I think part of it is embracing each day as new - and listening to your head, heart and soul and saying age is a number, it does not define who I am.
It's why I still (until move last year)_ biked 24/7 even all winter through Toronto streets, why I dress the way I want,why at 61 I still have hair past my butt - this is the only me I have and by god I"ll live on MY own terms.
I just mentioned to BIKSS how I absolutely love the way you write. (and think... i suppose, or else how would you write, right?)
And really - i can't imagine getting out on the dance floor right now. I'd be winded after 3 minutes. *i really need to work on my stamina, methinks*
Hi Jz - well done ... I was meant to go square dancing and that will be a shock to the old bones ... but will go next month. An open mind is essential isn't it ... we see so many more things ... and don't sit in the stereotype patch. Love it ... and so glad mm put up the literary quote ... I'll note that one for future - I've recently read a book on Lucy Maud Montgomery - great read. Cheers Hilary
I enjoyed your response to this question. I think it says alot that its your perspective and attitude that influence how young you feel.
--Baker
s-
It’s a kind of giving up, isn’t it? Or maybe laziness…?
Whatever the reason, a lot of people seem to plain ol’ stop making any effort to stay vibrant and engaged. (And, oh, by the way, interesting. Which, unhappily, just makes me want to say, “Nice to meet you but please go sit elsewhere…”)
YOU, however, my friend, can sit riiight here, *pat, pat* right next to me! ;-D
F-
Thank you, sunshine. That’s a very nice compliment. (*bashful smile*)
Yes, I do write the way I think…, which is, for better or worse, also the way I talk.
I will confess that I did have sore muscles the next day after all the dancing, but that’s our little secret, ok?
H-
Ooh, have fun! I love square dancing! I don’t do it particularly well, (my 180ยบ Syndrome kicks in and toes pay) but it’s always a good time.
I like the term “don’t sit in the stereotype patch”, too.
Between you and mm, I am stocking up on useful aphorisms today, by golly!
:-D
B-
Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed it. :-)
I’m just grateful for the fact that it’s something that comes fairly naturally to me. I’m not sure how one would grapple with this otherwise…
oh, but it's a really good answer. People are amazed when they find out how old I am physically--so it really is in attitude, in being curious, in not taken the road most traveled by, as Frost said. (That's been my guidepost, pretty much.)
I do enjoy your mind, my friend!
nilla
All the difference, indeed. :-)
Thanks, sunshine!
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