At the end of August I turned 40 years of age, it is a landmark age so I've been meaning to jot down a word or two about how I feel. But end of August also brought a new job, a trip to Colorado to visit D. family, and not a lot of free time. Despite some inquiries about whether I am dreading being 40 and growing older there is no dread. These lyrics from Massive Attack seem to pretty much sum up how I feel:
"I feel like a thousand years have passed
I'm younger than I used to beI feel like the world is my home at last
I know everyone that I meet"
Sly. Massive Attack
To be honest physically the changes that have occurred are pretty minor and not all negative, those half-a-dozen or so gray hairs are not anything to loose sleep about. No, I don't look like a fresh faced 20 something, but I am not exactly the matronly old lady I was expecting to see in the mirror at my age. And really that is what it comes down to is the expectations we have of certain ages. 40 as far as I can seems to be portrayed by either the frumpy housewife or the over-sexed cougar who is trying just a little to hard to hold onto youth. Now I certainly see people who fall into those stereo-types (& if they are happy good on them) but age isn't as ridgedly defined as it once was, even if media has a bit of catching up to do. Looking through the web I stumbled on this article on stylish women in their 40's and looking at the photos I wouldn't have thought any of them were older than 30, which just shows how good I am at telling age, but also how hard age is to define as we get older. Maybe we really are just as old as we feel, act and think. Anyway, I am excited for the next decade!
