Wednesday, March 18, 2009

I Used To Think ...

I used to think ....

that growing older was mostly experiencing things in the same way as when I was younger, but just choosing a different balance of things to experience. That meant it wasn't necessary to savor the complete sensory fullness of each and every moment because it could and would happen again in the future. Now in late middle age, I have come to realize that growing older involves so much more than simple choice of what to experience in what proportion. It involves a complete change in how our senses react and are interpreted internally. And that has immense consequences for the whole idea of the repeatability of experience.

It seems that our very senses change in the way they respond to the world around us as we age. Some sights are not as vivid as they once were whereas others trigger new and powerful emotions by association with the past. Sounds have new and different timbres as the frequency response of our ears changes; music we once thought could not be improved upon now sounds so-so; music that we once deemed merely good now sounds great. The sensitivity of touch changes so that textures take on whole new meanings. A baby's skin still feels soft, but in a different way than it did in our youth. And the callouses that time and use have created on our fingers means that smooth is a different experience now than it was in younger days. In some ways aging leads to a mutability of experience much akin to the LSD trips popular in our youth.

So now I think that growing older consists of experiencing the world in new and different ways, even if it is the same objective experience from my younger years. And that has consequences in how I view and interact with the world and my possible experiences of it, both in the future and now in the present. It makes me realize there will never be another moment just like the current one in my experience. That in turn means that the current moment is important to savor in all it's fullness. There will never be another one just like it in my life because even if the same conditions were to recur, my sensory intrepretation of the experience will be at a minimum slightly different. That also implies one should not let life get in the way of fully experiencing all that happens. Now matter how dark or dim the present and future may seem, each experience should be enjoyed fully in the now; there will never be another like it.

That is what I used to think and what I now think. What do you think?


This is a response to Mama Kat's writers challenge for this week. Click on over and join in.

17 comments:

  1. I loved this post. While you are in late middle age, I am a young senior citizen. I've experienced this myself. A film I thought was wonderfully witty, now seems inanely silly. I remember watching Fred Astaire movies and hating the dance sequences because i wanted to get back to the story. Now I can happily fast forward through the insipid stories to watch just the dance numbers. Music I thought dull now seems full of passion. In some areas, my tastes haven't changed so much as they have expanded. I still like the same artists I enjoyed when I was young, but now I've added more artists to my list of favorites. I used to read nothing but murder mysteries, now I read those, but also non-fiction and other genres of fiction. Maybe I am just trying to cram as much into my ever-shortening life as I can.

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  2. Wow. You've taken the time to wax eloquently on a topic that can be taken philosophically or can create terror for the reader with a horror towards aging.

    I'm afraid my deep thoughts are only heard by my husband and sometimes my coworkers. My blogging family, they just get smart alec me.

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  3. I really enjoyed this post. I try to remind myself constantly of how fleeting time is, and try to appreciate things that will soon be gone forever.

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  4. That was so well written and so true. It's much easier now to enjoy each moment for all it's worth. Life is a blessing.

    By the way, I never took one of those LSD trips. If I had, I wonder if I would have enjoyed that moment.

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  5. I think.. that was a great post. You obviously put a lot of time and thought into it. I find myself looking back at the last ten years and finding it hard to believe I've hit my 30's, then it'll be 40's. I think we all look back and go "wow" upon our past experiences. It always seems different when you've hit the next stage of life.

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  6. I think that was beautifully written - as usual.

    I know I experience things so much different now that I am going through the same "milestones" with my babies that I went through 17 years ago with my first born - yet they seem so different. I am glad of it, it makes me appreciate each moment so much more.

    Thank you again for making my think. I need all the practice I can get.

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  7. That was great Dan. Now I don't know what I think lol I'll come back when I do though ;)

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  8. Wow. When you go deep, you go deep. This was great ... and as a rapidly aging mother of a 4-year-old (is it wrong that I got my first pair of bifocals and have a child under the age of 5?) I can totally relate to so much -- especially the music examples.

    Well done, Mr. Mayor. Well done.

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  9. I think this post is absolutely brilliant....one of the most eloquent and beautifully written posts I've read in a long time.

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  10. I used to dread growing older, now I think it might not be so bad.

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  11. I really liked this one too. Great, now I have to think deeply about this one.

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  12. Awesome post. I had to sit and think for a moment...

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  13. I think you're pretty smart ;)

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  14. Dan ~ you always make me think and you write so eloquently. I just love your blog!

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  15. Loved this post. I used to think, and now I know ;)

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  16. I think I didn't savour each and every moment as it happened. How many times I have said 'If I knew then what I know now...'

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You know you want to ... so just do it!!!

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