I turn 40 today, which means I have been grandfathered into the ancient and pastoral tradition of imparting my Old Guy wisdom upon the Youths. So gather ‘round, kids, while I soliloquy. 1/9
Comments
Log in with your Bluesky account to leave a comment
It would be a stretch (and a bore) to attempt to sum up what I’ve learned in my first 40 years, but for the purposes of this post I’ll highlight this one:
The great lie of youth is the illusion that the world is permanent. 2/9
When you’re young, the world has preceded you, and so it seems that it has always been. Cities, governments, traditions, football teams, movie stars, schools, languages, cultures, hobbies. It’s all there, waiting for you to happen upon it. 3/9
But the older you get, the more you realize that even the forces in our world that once seemed most stable — Climate? Democracy? The value of Beanie Babies? — are fleeting constructs. Your favorite movie star will one day perform in her last film. Your favorite restaurant will close. 4/9
Sometimes I think about how good I have it and fear it means I have a proportionate amount of suffering left to do. One day, the family and friends I love most in this world will die. One day, so will I. 5/9
It’s why, I suspect, our elders put so much stock in the value of tradition. In their own time they’ve seen so many seemingly permanent aspects of their lives fall away. 6/9
Happy birthday Nick! Welcome to the decade of something something I forgot what I was going to put here oh look a new book about the Carolingians I need to read that...
Comments
The great lie of youth is the illusion that the world is permanent. 2/9
Sometimes I think about how good I have it and fear it means I have a proportionate amount of suffering left to do. One day, the family and friends I love most in this world will die. One day, so will I. 5/9
Oh, and Happy Birthday, Nick!
Thanks, Peter!
Thanks, man.