On growing old and growing up.

So here I am, on the verge of my 40 something birthday and wondering what, if anything I have learned in all these times I circumvented the solar system. Imagine that I’ve travelled (sometimes in total inactivity!) almost 24 billion miles. And where have I gotten to?

I’ve done many things and pursued many dreams in my 40 years here. I’ve been a child, a woman, a lover, a mom, a singer, a hard worker, a painter, a teacher, and now a blog writer! But what have I done? See, we all would like to leave a big mark on this green earth, right? But is it really that important? Is it totally essential to do something as work on quantum physics, or discover radium? How many of us will ever have the chance of doing something that will change the world forever?

The truth is that we do what we can, we do it the best we can and that is enough, even if it is not mind shattering or drop dead awing to the rest of the world. Some of us have the golden opportunity of getting our 15 minutes in the spotlight (for me it was a literal one, when I sang for a year with a rock band) and some of us seem to work our work in relative obscurity, but again I have to ask… does it make a difference?

I think not! I think that, as cliché as it sounds, there’s at least one person to whom you mean the world. In my life of a few successes and a lot of failures I know one thing. I have lived hard, I have loved fiercely and I have suffered miserably too. And I have proof of it all. These little wrinkles that line my face- that will soon become big lines are the proof. I have three sons that I have seen become men, I have two granddaughters that actually think I’m the cool grandma. I have a man that I have loved and hated for most of my life and with whom I share the best and the worst of me without causing him to run in terror. And I have me! And hey, I’m quite proud of me! It’s taken me a looong time to grow old, and maybe even I have grown up. Now all I gotta do it keep it up and live to be the coolest great grandmother ever LOL.

See ya next week,

Viv

PS: Happy birthday to me!