What I (Mostly) Love About Aging

(Picture courtesy of my daughter Marley...who clearly inherited her math skills from me)

Today, I turn 48.

I know!!  Don’t ask me how the hell that happened, but it did.  I’ve officially reached my late 40s.  The big 5-0 is on the horizon.  And you know what?  Mostly, I freaking love this whole ‘maturing’ thing! No, that is not sarcasm.  I’m being totally honest.  Because at 48, I don’t have time or patience for anything but the truth.

Aging, to a lot of people, is viewed as negative.  Something to be regarded with dread, fear, contempt, pity, even defeat.

Just so we’re clear, I am NOT one of those people.  In fact, those people kinda make me twitch.  If you happen to be one of them… The ones who turn 35 and think that they’ve reached their peak.  The ones who on their 40th birthday, start talking about being over the hill and doomed to deteriorate.  The ones who go around referring to themselves as old-timers, geezers, grannies, past their prime. The ones who start every second sentence with, "At my" or worse, "At our age" (to which my response is always, "Speak for yourself.")  If you’re one of those folks, then not only does your attitude towards aging make me slightly twitchy, I also feel sad that you see it that way. 

If you ARE one of those people, maybe keep reading, o.k.?  I won’t promise, because it kind of depends on your willingness to shift your perspective, but maybe I can give you even one small reason to embrace getting older.

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Holy Eclipse Batman!

Holy freaking moly!!  Can you feel it?  Do you sense the energy shifting?  Can you feel change coming on? The intensity of the upcoming eclipse is mounting.  I literally feel like I'm vibrating over here folks!  No guff! 

I’ve had many conversations and interactions with clients and friends who are feeling this intensity too.  Even if they don't equate it with the eclipse, they know something's up.  The tides are changing, shit's going down, and the collective energy is experiencing a major reboot. 

I tried to make a video for you about this today, but things like; a thunder storm in February, a sick kid needing to be picked up from school, dogs howling down the street, and my phone battery dying, eventually made me come to terms with the fact that the whole video thing wasn’t meant to be today.  But, I still wanted to talk to you about this, so I switched gears and here I am.  Ironically, that's part of what this eclipse is about - if it's not working, quit trying to force it, stop clinging to it and move on!

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How To Not Lose Your Sanity AND Still Give A Crap About What's Happening In The World

Let me cut right to the chase.  Unless you’ve been holed up in a cave somewhere, you KNOW what’s going on out there.  You don’t need me to tell you that it’s INTENSE. 

If you’re someone who feels all the feels, or even some of the feels, there have undoubtedly been moments or maybe days, when you just wanted to hide in bed with the covers over your head and forget about all the turmoil that is currently unfolding.  You think, “Maybe I’ll just stay here for awhile and when I emerge, the nightmare will be over.” It’s just too painful, too confusing, too overwhelming, too scary to deal with.

I don’t blame you.  I’ve had several of those moments too.  Giving a crap is downright exhausting, soul bruising, spirit wrenching, body aching, mind racing, emotion writhing work.  But for me, and maybe for you too, NOT giving a crap is just not an option.  This is for so many reasons but mostly, it’s because I’m just not built that way.

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Sometimes I’m Tired of Butterfly Soup

You know how when caterpillars turn into butterflies they go through a kind of mind blowing, perplexing process of transformation called metamorphosis?  Yeah.

And you know how somewhere in the middle of that process, the caterpillar is no longer a caterpillar, nor is she yet an actual butterfly?  Yeah. 

And you know how when the neither-caterpillar-nor-butterfly is inside her cocoon she is just a big goopy, jumbled mess of Butterfly Soup that’s waiting to become a fully formed butterfly?  Yeah. 

Well, sometimes I get tired of Butterfly Soup. 

Lately, I’ve been feeling like if I have to choke back one more morsel of it, I’m gonna hurl. But despite the nausea, I keep going back for more.

I know! It’s messed up.

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