Milestone birthday. I turn 40 today.
And another milestone, my first bog as a 40 year old. And here are my thoughts.
“You don’t look 40” thats what I’ve been hearing all day.
There is so much confusion about age. Is it OK to be old as long as you are seen to be pretending to be younger? Or do they have to think that you actually are young? Or does it, as most people say too loudly, really not matter at all anymore?
Forty has been the new 30 for a while now. Possibly since the pill was invented and we could start to ward off the one thing that ages us all above all else, becoming a parent. No one is supposed to dread being 40 anymore. So why do I feel so old and want to hide under a pillow?
Possibly because I am supposed to feel vibrant and defiant. There's an enormous pressure to prove that you are not giving up because you're 40. That your life isn't over and that it's all still out there for the taking. Part of me wants to sit down and have a cup of tea and a nice rest. Part of me wants to go and sing If I Could Turn Back Time at karaoke while wearing my penis costume.
As I exit the fourth decade and head properly towards death, I am already sick of people telling me that it's the best thing ever. It feels less like a birthday and more like a groundhog day where every 24 hours you're expected to do something new to prove you're really, really not bothered at all about ageing. No, really not bothered in the slightest!
Why do we continue this pretence that you can get over no longer being young? Of course youth is best. It comes once. When you're in it, you don't know it. And, by the time you realise how much you want it, you can never get it back. That is the human condition.
-Smelly
“40 is the old age of youth and 50 is the youth of old age” - Victor Hugo
And another milestone, my first bog as a 40 year old. And here are my thoughts.
“You don’t look 40” thats what I’ve been hearing all day.
There is so much confusion about age. Is it OK to be old as long as you are seen to be pretending to be younger? Or do they have to think that you actually are young? Or does it, as most people say too loudly, really not matter at all anymore?
Forty has been the new 30 for a while now. Possibly since the pill was invented and we could start to ward off the one thing that ages us all above all else, becoming a parent. No one is supposed to dread being 40 anymore. So why do I feel so old and want to hide under a pillow?
Possibly because I am supposed to feel vibrant and defiant. There's an enormous pressure to prove that you are not giving up because you're 40. That your life isn't over and that it's all still out there for the taking. Part of me wants to sit down and have a cup of tea and a nice rest. Part of me wants to go and sing If I Could Turn Back Time at karaoke while wearing my penis costume.
As I exit the fourth decade and head properly towards death, I am already sick of people telling me that it's the best thing ever. It feels less like a birthday and more like a groundhog day where every 24 hours you're expected to do something new to prove you're really, really not bothered at all about ageing. No, really not bothered in the slightest!
Why do we continue this pretence that you can get over no longer being young? Of course youth is best. It comes once. When you're in it, you don't know it. And, by the time you realise how much you want it, you can never get it back. That is the human condition.
-Smelly
“40 is the old age of youth and 50 is the youth of old age” - Victor Hugo
Happy birthday Smelly! This is great stuff
ReplyDeleteThanks for the inspiration and support Mr Annan.
ReplyDelete