Must be a group member before inviting friends
Peg Herring's Blog - Posts Tagged "aging"
The Craziness of It All
What if aging happened overnight? If at, let's say twenty-two, you were told, "Okay, tomorrow you're going to wake up old. Your joints will hurt: not all at the same time, but on a rotating basis, some worse than others, some one day, some the next. You won't be able to hurry. You'll walk kind of stooped over, and your sense of balance will be off, so don't climb on anything or reach too far. Your body will sag and put on weight in the most inconvenient areas, so clothing yourself will become more a function of trying to find things that don't bind rather than things that flatter.
"Oh, and you'll lose color. Your hair and skin will sort of blend together. And don't be surprised if your face scares small children, or if you see your mother when you pass a mirror.
"Your organs will work sluggishly, but we'll find you some pills that might help. We should plan some surgery dates to fix what we can.
"What? You say you don't want to live that way?"
That's why it's done gradually. You notice, but you get used to it.
"Oh, and you'll lose color. Your hair and skin will sort of blend together. And don't be surprised if your face scares small children, or if you see your mother when you pass a mirror.
"Your organs will work sluggishly, but we'll find you some pills that might help. We should plan some surgery dates to fix what we can.
"What? You say you don't want to live that way?"
That's why it's done gradually. You notice, but you get used to it.
Aging Writers
Young people can write, I will admit that. They can have talent, style, and a sense of story. But one gets a sense of life and living from the older writer that comes only from experience. Sadly, it is often sad.
Look at Mark Twain or William Shakespeare. As they aged, their works became less and less fun, more and more dark. Masterworks, some of them, but no happy endings.
I'm reading Walter Mosley's THE LONG FALL right now, and there's a passage that describes the "hammer", something waiting in the sky to hit a person when he least expects it, a staggering blow that surprises and stuns. It requires everything a person has just to go on afterward.
Life brings lots of hammer blows. The more I talk to people, the more I realize that we all have things to bear that are unbearable. Is is the piling on of hammer blows, one after another, that makes us old?
I guess the solace in it all is that we become better able to present reality, better able to capture the ups and downs of being human. Better able to write.
Look at Mark Twain or William Shakespeare. As they aged, their works became less and less fun, more and more dark. Masterworks, some of them, but no happy endings.
I'm reading Walter Mosley's THE LONG FALL right now, and there's a passage that describes the "hammer", something waiting in the sky to hit a person when he least expects it, a staggering blow that surprises and stuns. It requires everything a person has just to go on afterward.
Life brings lots of hammer blows. The more I talk to people, the more I realize that we all have things to bear that are unbearable. Is is the piling on of hammer blows, one after another, that makes us old?
I guess the solace in it all is that we become better able to present reality, better able to capture the ups and downs of being human. Better able to write.
Switching Sexes
Oh, stop thinking that way!
My thought for the day comes from the night. Once upon a time, my husband wanted the bedroom cool (make that cold) and I wanted it warm. In our maturity, we have switched. These days I can't sleep unless the AC is on, and he suffers from an arthritic shoulder, so the blast of cool air keeps him awake with an ache.
Studies show that men and women make subtle shifts as they age that may reverse behaviors and attitudes from their younger years. Women become more assertive and men less so. Is it because men sense their physical powers waning and women get a sense of it? Women who have finished their life task, raising children, become interested in lots of new things, while men may narrow their circle of activities. One possible reason is that their pursuits often involved physical activity. Riding a motorcycle or tramping through rough terrain just isn't as much fun at 70 as it was at 35.
Of course, I speak in generalities. There are plenty of exceptions to everything I've said here. But as a writer, I think one has to keep in mind the gentle shift as people age. Older male protags might have limits where they did not have them before, and older females? Well, they might just surprise everyone.
My thought for the day comes from the night. Once upon a time, my husband wanted the bedroom cool (make that cold) and I wanted it warm. In our maturity, we have switched. These days I can't sleep unless the AC is on, and he suffers from an arthritic shoulder, so the blast of cool air keeps him awake with an ache.
Studies show that men and women make subtle shifts as they age that may reverse behaviors and attitudes from their younger years. Women become more assertive and men less so. Is it because men sense their physical powers waning and women get a sense of it? Women who have finished their life task, raising children, become interested in lots of new things, while men may narrow their circle of activities. One possible reason is that their pursuits often involved physical activity. Riding a motorcycle or tramping through rough terrain just isn't as much fun at 70 as it was at 35.
Of course, I speak in generalities. There are plenty of exceptions to everything I've said here. But as a writer, I think one has to keep in mind the gentle shift as people age. Older male protags might have limits where they did not have them before, and older females? Well, they might just surprise everyone.
