"You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked."
And high school is definitely NOT "the best years of your life". For me, college was an experience I absolutely did NOT make the most of while I was there, and would happily go back to do again, but the best years are undefinable, since the concept seems to insinuate that other years are somehow lesser. And that's not true.
Oh yes! I'd forgotten about the "wear sunscreen" one- also excellent. This part of it is so great, too: "Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth."
And right, about high school?! If you think about what that really means-- that the absolute best of your life happens so early and it's all "downhill" from there, I'm totally unwilling to accept that construct! :-) I love what you said about the best years being "undefinable." So true!
I love that the list of things you're still learning is so long. As long as we're learning, we're growing. As long as we're learning, we're young. There's so much to learn, even when our school days are long behind us.
And it could have been longer! I love and agree wholeheartedly that "as long as we're learning, we're young." Such a great way to put that. Thanks so much for sharing!
I really enjoyed this list, Mary Chris, especially the garlic-pesto ratio and: "That trying new things is laced with ambiguity and almost always feels awkward for longer than you think it will." So true. Such a good reminder.
Thank you so much, Brianne! And yeah, those garlic/pesto ratio issues- it's either mouth-burningly garlicky or not garlicky enough. But I am determined to crack the code! Always great to hear from you!
I had never seen the Cheryl Strayed column before, and I love it. My other favorite is this one, turned into a spoken word performance by Baz Luhrmann in 1997: https://www.chicagotribune.com/columns/chi-schmich-sunscreen-column-column.html
"You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked."
And high school is definitely NOT "the best years of your life". For me, college was an experience I absolutely did NOT make the most of while I was there, and would happily go back to do again, but the best years are undefinable, since the concept seems to insinuate that other years are somehow lesser. And that's not true.
Oh yes! I'd forgotten about the "wear sunscreen" one- also excellent. This part of it is so great, too: "Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth."
And right, about high school?! If you think about what that really means-- that the absolute best of your life happens so early and it's all "downhill" from there, I'm totally unwilling to accept that construct! :-) I love what you said about the best years being "undefinable." So true!
I love that the list of things you're still learning is so long. As long as we're learning, we're growing. As long as we're learning, we're young. There's so much to learn, even when our school days are long behind us.
And it could have been longer! I love and agree wholeheartedly that "as long as we're learning, we're young." Such a great way to put that. Thanks so much for sharing!
I really enjoyed this list, Mary Chris, especially the garlic-pesto ratio and: "That trying new things is laced with ambiguity and almost always feels awkward for longer than you think it will." So true. Such a good reminder.
Thank you so much, Brianne! And yeah, those garlic/pesto ratio issues- it's either mouth-burningly garlicky or not garlicky enough. But I am determined to crack the code! Always great to hear from you!