Aging

"I traveled through my history
From certainty to mystery"*

Songwriting is poetry; songwriters, poets. Listening to music is a way we are exposed to poetry even if we don't read or listen to that genre per se. We're attracted to the rhythm of songs, the instruments used, the beat, but we're also captivated by the words and some speak to us depending on what's going on in our lives. With my favorite songs, I know they're my favorites because they touched me at the precise time I needed them. When I hear them at later times, they have the power to bring me right back to where I was when I first heard and enjoyed them.

The lines from Carrie Newcomer's song describe me, describe us perhaps. I used to think I was different from everyone else; I don't any more. I see that every person goes through the same phases and cycles, and we're more alike than different.

I love aging; truly. OK, the lines on my face are just beginning to get to me, but not that much. I've earned every line. I am outside every day, in Maine, so what should I expect? I'm out in the rain, the wind, the sun, and the snow. Being outdoors is more important to me than lines on my face. And it's OK with me if when you look at me you recognize a woman who has spent a lifetime outdoors. My sister calls my Mom a Shar-Pei; perhaps that's where I'm headed due to genetics!

I like who I am and what I know now more than what I was and knew when I was twenty. At twenty, I was filled with certainty. The world was black & white. I charted my course and set out steadfastly, without a worry or concern, so certain that what I gave would yield precisely what I wanted. What aging does is soften us (even our faces). The certainty becomes a little uncertain and more uncertain as time goes on. We start out sure of ourselves; we end, sure of very little. The black & whites all become gray. Aging is turning gray....which is not all bad.



*Source: "Leaves Don't Drop (They Just Let Go)" from Geography of Light 2008 Rounder Records, Song written by Carrie Newcomer © Carrie Newcomer Music BMI Bug Publishing & Michael Mains BMI

What if everyone did yoga...

As I left restorative yoga class Sunday night, calm and relaxed, both physically and mentally in a very zen sort of place, I paused on Broadway before being able to get in my car door due to the fast traffic passing by and splashing me with muddy, snowy puddles. The radio in my car was so out of place - I just didn't want to hear the noise and chaos. I didn't need it.

As I watched all the cars driving over the Million Dollar Bridge and through the Old Port, I wondered what it would be like if everyone had just left yoga class. What if every person was in the same zen kind of space at the same time? Would there be less aggression? Would there be more kindness and a slowing down of drivers and walkers on the streets? While anger and violent images and games increase a person's adrenaline and make him more likely to strike or lash out verbally or physically, yoga could have the opposite effect.

What a dream to have a kinder, gentler world with hearts turned toward each other rather than away. Seeing our fellow men as worthy of our kindness, our civility, and our lack of judgment would create a very different world for us, wouldn't it? Can the answer be as simple as yoga for everyone? Namaste, my friend.

(Painting by Liz Brown)