“Growin’ up leads to growin’ old, which leads to dyin’, and dyin’ to me don’t sound like it’s all that much fun.”
“Authority Song”
John Mellencamp
The Authority Song is one of my favorites of all time. First, it was written by Rock and Roll Hall of Famer (and IMHO the Poet Laureate of American Rock and Roll), Mr. John Mellencamp. Second, the original recording of it has in it one of the best drummers ever, Kenny Aronoff. Just listen to that drumming - and Mr. Mellencamp’s singing - and the whole band playing. If you can keep still during that, there is something wrong with you - seriously. You must at least be tapping a toe by now. I dance in the living room - but that’s a whole other blog post. :)
The main reason I love this song is for that one line I quoted above. It encapsulates something I’ve felt in myself for a long time, and something I wish other people would embrace. I am disheartened when I hear people bemoaning that they are “old”, as I heard again from someone just recently. Most people who do this kind of whining aren’t old at all - they’ve turned 30, or some nonsense like that. “Oh, my life is over. I’m old.” Insert whining sounds there. “Oh, my life is over. I’ve turned 40.” More whining sounds here. “I’m at death’s door. I’m 50.” Get over it, people. It’s a number. It’s your state of mind. Which means, you can change it!
Are you “old”? Is your health poor? If so, I am sorry to hear that, and I wish you great health. As to attitude, I’ve known people with terminal illnesses who were as full of youthful vigor as anyone, and they maintained it to the end.
Are you in your 80's? I have relatives who are and they not only look young, but they act it, and by dog they don’t moan (read whine) about being “old”. On the contrary, I don’t hear them even mention it. I do hear them laughing and telling a good joke or two.
Why are you old? Is it because you’re obsessed with the numbers on your birth certificate? Really? Do you live by those numbers? Honestly?
I’m an artist and one thing that really disturbs me is “paint by the numbers” kits. I don’t care if you don’t have, or don’t think you have any art talent, don’t do paint by the numbers! For the love of dogs, pick up the brush and paint what you feel. Pick up the charcoal and draw what you want. So, you don’t have art talent, and it will never be hung in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. So what? Art is about what’s in your soul. It’s not about perfection, or some pompous pseudo-intellectual’s idea of perfection. Nor is it about (dear dog) NUMBERS!! No, I hate paint by the numbers.
Likewise, I hate life by the numbers. If anything is an art form, life is. It’s how you live it that counts. It’s who you are in your heart and mind. There is beauty there, no matter your chronological age. Forget your age. Forget the numbers on your birth certificate. Those numbers only record the number of times you have ridden this water-logged rock around the Homestar!! Really, people - is your ride on this planet the same as everyone else’s? I think not.
If your ride on this gorgeous blue satellite is unique, then why are you tying it to a bloody number? A number that compares you to other people based on whether or not you were born before or after they were?
Are you ready to give up? To live less fully? To feel less alive?
I’m not. I still look up at the sky on a breathtakingly beautiful day and say “Ahhhh. Thank God!” I still listen to the sound of a fall rain, and feel peace and joy for that which nourishes the beautiful landscape. I weep when I hear sad or tragic things. I laugh out loud at a good joke, and it lifts my whole day. I drive down these long, winding Texas roads with the windows down, the wind in my hair and the radio cranked. On a bad day, I smile at people even when I don’t feel like smiling, and when they smile back, I feel good all over and my smile becomes real - all the way down to my bones. I feel it all - as much as I can stand, and then I see if I can feel even deeper. There’s a risk you take in feeling so much - the risk of feeling intense pain, but I’ll take it for the opportunity at full blown joy!
Look, I don’t want to be 17 again. It was miserable. I wasn’t very bright. I treasure my knowledge and the life experiences I’ve had. It’s been a real bonus and blessing to live this long so far (and no, I’m not telling my age - there are too many pinheads out there ready to judge people based on a stupid number); but, as long as I have lived, and as much as I have learned, I won’t live, or define my personality, my choices, my attitude, or anything else, by the numbers on some “official” document. I don’t fit the damn numbers. I can’t explain myself, or how I feel as a comparison to someone else my age, or someone younger or older - chronologically speaking.
So, while I don’t want to be 17 again, and I’m not as young as a 25-year-old, I’m also decidedly not "old". If you want to be “old”, then go ahead, and I’m sorry to hear it; but, I would much rather you left your birth certificate in a box (maybe the State Department cares what it says when they issue a passport, or the IRS when you fill out those awful forms, but, otherwise, who cares?) Leave the documents behind, cherish the knowledge and life experience you hold that is uniquely yours, and go out there and use it for all the good, and LIVE! AND remember these:
“We turn not older with years, but newer every day.”
Emily Dickinson
“There is no end. There is no beginning. There is only the passion of life.”
Federico Fellini
“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.”
Eleanor Roosevelt
“Keep true to the dreams of thy youth.”
Johann Friedrich von Schiller
“May you grow up to be righteous, may you grow up to be true. May you always know the truth and see the lights surrounding you. May you always be courageous, stand upright and be strong. May you stay forever young.”
Bob Dylan
“Authority Song”
John Mellencamp
The Authority Song is one of my favorites of all time. First, it was written by Rock and Roll Hall of Famer (and IMHO the Poet Laureate of American Rock and Roll), Mr. John Mellencamp. Second, the original recording of it has in it one of the best drummers ever, Kenny Aronoff. Just listen to that drumming - and Mr. Mellencamp’s singing - and the whole band playing. If you can keep still during that, there is something wrong with you - seriously. You must at least be tapping a toe by now. I dance in the living room - but that’s a whole other blog post. :)
The main reason I love this song is for that one line I quoted above. It encapsulates something I’ve felt in myself for a long time, and something I wish other people would embrace. I am disheartened when I hear people bemoaning that they are “old”, as I heard again from someone just recently. Most people who do this kind of whining aren’t old at all - they’ve turned 30, or some nonsense like that. “Oh, my life is over. I’m old.” Insert whining sounds there. “Oh, my life is over. I’ve turned 40.” More whining sounds here. “I’m at death’s door. I’m 50.” Get over it, people. It’s a number. It’s your state of mind. Which means, you can change it!
Are you “old”? Is your health poor? If so, I am sorry to hear that, and I wish you great health. As to attitude, I’ve known people with terminal illnesses who were as full of youthful vigor as anyone, and they maintained it to the end.
Are you in your 80's? I have relatives who are and they not only look young, but they act it, and by dog they don’t moan (read whine) about being “old”. On the contrary, I don’t hear them even mention it. I do hear them laughing and telling a good joke or two.
Why are you old? Is it because you’re obsessed with the numbers on your birth certificate? Really? Do you live by those numbers? Honestly?
I’m an artist and one thing that really disturbs me is “paint by the numbers” kits. I don’t care if you don’t have, or don’t think you have any art talent, don’t do paint by the numbers! For the love of dogs, pick up the brush and paint what you feel. Pick up the charcoal and draw what you want. So, you don’t have art talent, and it will never be hung in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. So what? Art is about what’s in your soul. It’s not about perfection, or some pompous pseudo-intellectual’s idea of perfection. Nor is it about (dear dog) NUMBERS!! No, I hate paint by the numbers.
Likewise, I hate life by the numbers. If anything is an art form, life is. It’s how you live it that counts. It’s who you are in your heart and mind. There is beauty there, no matter your chronological age. Forget your age. Forget the numbers on your birth certificate. Those numbers only record the number of times you have ridden this water-logged rock around the Homestar!! Really, people - is your ride on this planet the same as everyone else’s? I think not.
If your ride on this gorgeous blue satellite is unique, then why are you tying it to a bloody number? A number that compares you to other people based on whether or not you were born before or after they were?
Are you ready to give up? To live less fully? To feel less alive?
I’m not. I still look up at the sky on a breathtakingly beautiful day and say “Ahhhh. Thank God!” I still listen to the sound of a fall rain, and feel peace and joy for that which nourishes the beautiful landscape. I weep when I hear sad or tragic things. I laugh out loud at a good joke, and it lifts my whole day. I drive down these long, winding Texas roads with the windows down, the wind in my hair and the radio cranked. On a bad day, I smile at people even when I don’t feel like smiling, and when they smile back, I feel good all over and my smile becomes real - all the way down to my bones. I feel it all - as much as I can stand, and then I see if I can feel even deeper. There’s a risk you take in feeling so much - the risk of feeling intense pain, but I’ll take it for the opportunity at full blown joy!
Look, I don’t want to be 17 again. It was miserable. I wasn’t very bright. I treasure my knowledge and the life experiences I’ve had. It’s been a real bonus and blessing to live this long so far (and no, I’m not telling my age - there are too many pinheads out there ready to judge people based on a stupid number); but, as long as I have lived, and as much as I have learned, I won’t live, or define my personality, my choices, my attitude, or anything else, by the numbers on some “official” document. I don’t fit the damn numbers. I can’t explain myself, or how I feel as a comparison to someone else my age, or someone younger or older - chronologically speaking.
So, while I don’t want to be 17 again, and I’m not as young as a 25-year-old, I’m also decidedly not "old". If you want to be “old”, then go ahead, and I’m sorry to hear it; but, I would much rather you left your birth certificate in a box (maybe the State Department cares what it says when they issue a passport, or the IRS when you fill out those awful forms, but, otherwise, who cares?) Leave the documents behind, cherish the knowledge and life experience you hold that is uniquely yours, and go out there and use it for all the good, and LIVE! AND remember these:
“We turn not older with years, but newer every day.”
Emily Dickinson
“There is no end. There is no beginning. There is only the passion of life.”
Federico Fellini
“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.”
Eleanor Roosevelt
“Keep true to the dreams of thy youth.”
Johann Friedrich von Schiller
“May you grow up to be righteous, may you grow up to be true. May you always know the truth and see the lights surrounding you. May you always be courageous, stand upright and be strong. May you stay forever young.”
Bob Dylan
Polla Filia,
J.F.
I totally agree, it is all a state of mind. Stay forever young, I am. If I didn't tell people how old I was, they would never no. :)
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