Well.. I’m 29 today, on this somewhat trivial celebration of my day of birth. Please don’t think I’m bitter or sad, I just don’t make as big a deal about it.. I take all the good natured ribbing from my friends and family, and then just move on. I’m not afraid of being old, or being 30, or 40.. Life is one long journey, and just because you hit a signpost doesn’t mean you stop and celebrate.
I have a variety of friends, some younger, most older, and while most people lament (at least a little) the loss of their youth, I don’t. I am happier now than I was in my youth. And I keep hoping (without fruition as of yet) that as I get older, I’ll gain at least a little wisdom.
This year marks a lot of semi-significant dates… My Dad turns 70, my mom 60, their 30th Wedding anniversary, my 5th anniversary of sadly leaving the Great White North (a shout out to all the OSFL people, still there, fighting the fight) for the sunny sands of California, seeking fame fortune and happiness.
I’m not famous, I’m not rich, but I think I have found a little happiness, and hopefully found a bit more of myself. After high school I’m kind of amazed that I made it this far. Last year or the year before, my sister Mim sent me a killer little desk thing, and it has a few pictures and some quotations that I love and inspire me all the time.
“We all, at our own age, have to claim something; Even if it is only our own confusion.”
– This quotation gives me so much hope, knowing that even if all I have is anger, or resentment, or depression, that it’s mine, and that gives me some identity. In my mind, a lack of uniqueness and identity is a terrible thought.
“When you look on the moments of your life, you will find those which you have truly lived are moments when you have done things in the spirit of love.”
– This quotation gives me something to shoot for. The hope and ideal that when it’s all over, hopefully at some distant date, that I will be able to look back, and know that I loved, and was loved. Money, power, fame, achievement, career, education… These are all transient things. Love… That’s what life is all about.
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