We have a column online.
Everyone goes through it, surely. You reach a stage where your statistical age, based on the year you were born, refuses to correlate with the person you think you are. This is called “cognitive dissonance,” although maybe it’s not.
I believe there are also special circumstances in my case, although you probably feel the same way. Still, I’ve been working out of my home for 20 years now, padding around in socks and always looking like I just climbed out of bed. I’ve aged in isolation, in other words, apart from the tribe. And when I’ve had to venture out into the real world, into offices with other grownups, it’s always felt sort of like going to the prom, artificial and playacting. Including the part about renting a suit.
3 responses so far ↓
East Coast Chuck // Feb 3, 2010 at 8:20 pm
I read somewhere that the great secret of old people is that in their heads they are still the same age. I expect that the age we hang onto in our heads varies from person to person. As I approach my 65th birthday I continue to think of myself in my mid-thirties; a time of great excitement, joy, challenges, and growth for me. Oh, and I’ve had the facial hair for over twenty years, am still untucked, but have to resist the urge to tell the checkout girl what I did with the grandchildren yesterday.
Clarence // Feb 4, 2010 at 9:21 am
You write the book; I’ll read it and be a critic.
I do critic real well.
That facial hair opinion is spot on. I don’t have any hair on my head or face but, the ears, that’s different. I do what I can to keep them cut but they come back in at a furious rate.
I think of myself as if I were in pre-puberty. I still like girls but am not really sure why.
I will talk to anyone that will listen and some that won’t. I don’t care. I just like to talk. I even talk to me a lot.
Phil // Feb 4, 2010 at 10:36 pm
I finally saw a real paper copy of the Mukilteo Beacon a couple weeks ago, in the office of a client in Everett (he happens to do some product placement of his own there on occasion). I opened it, and there you were! I pointed to the article and said, “I know that guy!” Which posed way too many philosophical questions to be billing someone for.
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