Just Sixteen and Dreaming...

My 22 year old son posted these lyrics on Facebook last week : -

I remember when we were just sixteen and dreaming.
Drinking in the basement, just shouting and screaming.
Listen to our favorite records all while thinking,
Some day were gonna be there on stage all singing.
Remember breaking hearts and getting hearts broken?
Lying to our parents on what we were smoking?
Solving all our problems with bottles and women?
Even though we knew were better off without them.

(Trophy Scars - Assistant Assistants.)

Loved them, they brought back a lot of memories.

I have no idea who the band are or how the song goes but he was rolling around laughing as I commented 'So do I son and we did it better, bigger and badder way before you did!'  Most of us Donut Kids are in our late 40's. One or two of us are actually 50. Gulp! Where did the time go? We are still the same people inside, just older, greyer, tinted, wiser and more exhausted.

At 16 we were bright new things and looked upon those even 10 years older than us as positively ancient. We are catching up with them now...oh the shame. We hated the elderly, oh god, they should have been euthanized years ago. We did not think for one moment that we would hurtle toward perms and zimmer frames, slippers and pipes. In fact, myself and two school friends have one functioning limb between us. If I went up to stay with them, I fear Jess, their German Shepherd would voluntarily put herself in kennels, lest she had to look after us!

To my son, I say...  'We will not bow to old age. Age is but a number and we will still be listening to The Stranglers in our 80's'. The lyrics he posted got me thinking as to how our perception of age has changed. When I was a teenager every woman over the age of 35 had a perm and every man over the age of 40 sported a cardie and Jesus sandals with socks. A- line skirts with geometric print and twin sets were popular with the ladies. 'Simon Cowell' under the armpits trousers were De Riguer for the blokes.  I dare not venture north of Cheltenham as the world of flat caps and rollers beckons...not that I am part of the anti roller brigade - Ma loves the things. Quite how you can actually love something that feels as though you have a hundred hedgehogs in you hair is beyond me. But there again, I have done my time at the hairdressers, head bowed under a tonne weight of Aluminium foil!

Our perception, expectation and knowledge of age has been made more profound by Education, Celebrity and the Media. I would like to think that Education is at the forefront of how we embrace our gathering years but, alas it is that old devil called the Media.

Women are expected to stay young and fashionable. Men are becoming more aware and thinking about their image in a way never seen before. Slight problem here. Women naturally age faster than men because the process of childbirth  mature their bodies and faces in a different way to men. Look at a woman that has had a child and compare with a Woman that has not. Trust me, I am right about this. Childbirth changes the very essence of the female.

The modern Media world insists that we remain young. Granted, men are under more pressure than before but never as much as women. The question is, can we stay younger without resorting to plastic surgery, creams etc... my answer is a simple one. It rather depends who you are. If you are so precious about your appearance that you have to run off and get Botox in your early thirties then you will probably get more wrinkles worrying about it!  Yeah I admit to being precious about my hair but only because it is as sick as me and suffering with the anaemia I suffer with.

Celebrity age is a lie - a big fat nasty lie! Look at actresses on the red carpet and then look at them doing the shop at  Sainsbury's. It is easy when you know how. Gut sucking underwear, which leaves hideous marks and take two bouncers to get you out of, creams that make your face so tight you can barely raise an eyebrow and  that little photographic trick called airbrushing! Failing that they (Demi Moore) go under the knife and emerge doll like, a veritable alien to their own minds.

Lets backtrack. Do you age gracefully or follow the celebrities and use various products, botox, face lifts? Again an easy answer. Age is an attitude of mind. Carry yourself well, look after yourself and accept the passing years but do not forget your soul, your brilliant youth and your courage.

Namaste

Muse x