You Hold It Tight and Then You Let It Go.
I just finished reading one of my favorite blogs, you know the one, where the young woman is about 30 years old and she has a pre-school daughter and we get to hear all the anecdotes about her daughter and we get to see the pictures of this gorgeous little girl (her mother is beautiful as well) ...
...and every month she writes a letter to her daughter, talking about everything the little girl has learned in the past month (and the pictures, oh my God, the pictures. This child is so gorgeous.)
And what's the point of this post? Just that it came to me suddenly that this gorgeous child coming into her own is ascendant -- and the mother, as beautiful as she is, is slightly, slightly beginning her own decline.
And this is life. You are a beautiful young woman who meets an attractive young man, you mate, hopefully you create a child ... and then, slowly, slowly, you feel your life move toward closure. As that child races toward meeting her own mate, and her own fate.
(Ok, I refuse to concede this in total. But I love the way it sounds.)
posted by mireille at 6:35 AM
3 Comments:
Yes, it is a poetic way of looking at life. The secret of aging is using the assonance to your advantage.
7:37 AM
Okay, I've been wanting to reply to this but I'm not sure where I stand, because it applies to me totally! (And then some, because I'm on the verge of 40.) Here's the thing: I'm looking for a reason to be sad that I'm starting my decline, but I can't. I mean, yes, of course the idea of death bugs me, and the idea of physical decline, both in terms of capabilities and beauty (though I believe it's really a replacement of one kind of beauty with another), but I would never revisit my childhood or even young adulthood, even if I could. It was such a time of uncertainty, insecurity, and powerlessness. So I guess I breathe a sigh of relief that I'm finally beginning to know what want (and more importantly, what I need) out of life, and as such I see myself as a support figure for my daughter as she takes on the mighty task of navigating through youth's unpredictable waters.
Am I in denial? Am I rationalizing? Could be. But it's okay; I really do like the idea of becoming a supporting cast member in someone else's show. It's almost a relief.
6:10 AM
i've been sitting back pondering this post for a while too and wondering how to articulate my response
but WW beat me to it and said more or less what i wanted to say!
i had hoped i had a few years left of my own ascendancy, but maybe i'm kidding myself too...
nigella lawson put it nicely once: something along the lines of once you have kids, you are no longer the photo inside the frame, you become the frame
oh, and hiya, M!
feels like it's been a while (but i still read even if i don't comment!)
♥
UC
8:36 AM
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