Old Man in the Sun
Original art by Dominique Metreaud. Used by permission.
"To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring." George Santayana
Some blog posts come quickly; others take a long time to 'marinate'. This one comes in the latter group.
I have the sense that the time has come to see what emerges. The impetus to proceed came from reading a column that my 75 year old 'little brother' recently wrote for the local weekly. A graduate of the Journalism School of the University of North Carolina as well as being a seminary graduate, he sometimes writes pretty profound ideas in his weekly column.. His thoughts and mine have to do with the 'Seasons of Life'.
October's ushering Autumn onto the calendar has further stimulated my interest in life's transitions . . . and my place therein. This has long been my favorite month and it never lasts long enough. When, then, does Winter begin ? In one of his poems, Shel Silverstein lamented "must we always have Winter? Can't Springtime just stay? ...and some hair turn gray ...". I would modify that to "Can't October just stay?" I've never heard anyone sing In The Good Old Wintertime.
The later Bernard Baruch wrote of being in the 'Winter' of his life when in his 90's. Earlier he had keenly noted that "to me old age is always fifteen years older than I am". From the vantage point of accumulated birthdays, some review of 'the past' can be helpful, as long as nostalgia for the good old days does not distort perspective. The Brothers Four sang "Deep in December it's nice to remember although you know the snow will follow".
The calendar tells me that I have had 85 birthdays with a 86th following soon (I hope). But I do not 'feel' old (except for an arthritic hip). An article on PMCPubMedCentral cited research indicating "older adults across many disparate countries, both Western and Eastern, share a surprisingly universal view that they feel younger than their chronological age. and this tendency is more pronounced with increasing age." I like these observations taken from that fount of knowledge, Wikipedia : "Old age is the range of ages for persons nearing and surpassing life expectancy . . . Old age is not a definite biological stage: the chronological age denote as 'old age' varies culturally and historically".
I have good memories from the Seasons of my life ...important people, formative experiences of opportunities seized as well as disappointments, places travelled, etc. "Of all the sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these 'It might have been'".
Who said that? I don't remember. I think it more important to live with integrity and purpose and grace in whatever 'season' we find ourselves, as per Santayana 's quote above.
How 'old' are you or as the original Satchel asked, "How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?"
Satchel
