Written by Today is the first day of spring and a time to celebrate renewal, love, youth, growth and most of all, hope. It’s a beautiful day here today so it seems as if even the weather is playing its part. To ring in this new season, we have a very fast little doodlewash of a baby chick. As much as I value the fact that I have a very youthful mind and heart, while getting ready this morning I had a very different experience. What once was a ritual of sprucing up and making myself even more presentable felt more like a maintenance routine one might perform on a well-driven car just to keep it running a few more years. I tried to think back to that precise moment when my beauty regime took this awkward turn, but I think it’s just been slowly happening over the last few years. The laugh lines I’m good with, because they are like little tattoos of happiness, but the other wrinkles that have appeared just remind me that I’m getting older. But when I looked closer, I realized those initially unwanted lines also had their purpose. They were story lines. Bits of my history collected there, proving that I’ve lived a pretty wonderful and memorable life so far.
True, I was caught off guard a bit and worried that the hourglass my face had become was slowly emptying at a horrible rate. I need more time, I thought. There’s too much that I still want to accomplish in life. Oh, you idiot, I thought to myself next, then just shut up and frickin’ get to it. Yeah, I’m not always super polite with myself as even my inner voice has very little patience. But it’s true. There are so many things that I’d like to do, and yet I manage to come up with excuses as to why I can’t do them right now. Time is usually the main culprit, yet I find time to do things that have very little value to my life so it’s not really the problem. Much of the problem is thinking that if I put the effort into doing something I’d love to try, would I actually succeed? Do I even know what success would look like if it happened? These thoughts immediately felt silly to me. Isn’t the very act of not doing something you’d love to do already an instant failure? Why was I worried about success when I’d already failed by not starting these projects in the first place.
That’s when I understood the true meaning of spring and the feelings that it evokes. It’s all about celebrating new life and beautiful changes. Even the unwanted changes to my face were still a sign that life, in all of its crazy wonder and complexity, is swiftly moving forward. There’s nothing to fight, it’s just a matter of riding the wave and moving forward with it. And, sure, going ahead and buying that pricey eye cream wouldn’t hurt either. But I left for the day feeling rejuvenated and ready to tackle all those things I’ve been keeping myself from doing. I’ve no idea if I’ll succeed, but at least I’m certain I can’t truly fail. Like any truly wonderful story, I’ve found my beginning. And I’m excited to see how it unfolds. That old man in the mirror was wiser than I realized and I gained a new respect for him. He was whispering to me that there’s no time like the present to truly chase my dreams. The time is always right now. Anything is possible, at any given moment. Even that moment when you suddenly realize you’re no spring chicken.
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About the DoodlewashMission Gold Watercolors: Permanent Yellow Light, Yellow Orange, Permanent Red and Vandyke Brown. Sennelier L’Aquarelle: Dioxazine Purple, Phthalocyanine Blue and Payne’s Grey. Lamy Safari Al Star pen with Platinum Carbon black ink in an A6 Hahnemühle Watercolor Book. |
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Beautiful
Thanks so much! 😃💕
Life is all about changes, that is for sure! And you are wise, my dear…and not nearly as old as I am. 😀 Your chick is beautifully painted! They’re not easy to paint, actually, so that makes this all the more remarkable. <3
Thanks so much, Teresa! 😃💕 Hehe… it’s just good that we’re all young at heart! Glad ya liked my chick… I tried to go fast and not think about how damn difficult it was! lol I think that helped a lot!
Wonderful. Being no spring chicken for awhile now I appreciate your perspective. Time is short and there is so much more to see and do!!
Thanks, Susan! 😃💕 Cheers to that! So much more to see and do always!
Being a spring chicken is over-rated – let’s embrace this – errr – ummm – maturing! 🙂
LOL… yes!! 😃💕 Let’s do that and come up with a better word than “maturing” so it’s easier to get the word out! hehe
This should be a TED Talk. Wonderful attitude. And that baby chick – so adorable. a little yellow pom-pom with a beak and two funny-looking feet.
When I was about 9 years old, my mom’s youngest brother, who was only about 11 or 12 years older than me, gave us a shoebox filled with six tiny newborn chicks. I have no idea where he found them, but my brother and sister and I were instantly in love. Neither of our parents was quite so enchanted. I could not understand why we couldn’t keep the chicks and they didn’t offer a reasonable explanation. So we had those baby chicks for about two days and then my dad took them to a farm – so he said, though I had no proof.
I’d forgotten all about the six chicks until I read your post today. Thanks for a bittersweet memory.
Thanks so much, Sharon! 😃💕 hehe…a TED talk I could do… they’re short! That’s about my attention span! Oh wow… you actually had baby chicks? Yeah, they usually only visit once parents realize they don’t tend to stay that size. Let’s imagine that they arrived safely on a farm and grew up to cluck happily with new friends. 😉
‘ Awwdorable ‘ 😘
Thanks so much! 😃💕
Cluck, cluck, Cute. 😀
hehe… thanks, Rebecca!! 😃💕
Such a sweet little spring chick, it´s adorable! I sometimes envy my dog for not getting wrinkles. But actually I don´t really mind that I get some. Time´s too precious for useless worries. And, as Jodi, I think that being young is completely overrated. It´s just good for a huge industry, trying to sell youth to all mankind. I´m much more happy, self confident, and content now than I was when I was 25. Some days ago I heard someone say that aging actually starts with your birth. That way it can´t be bad. 😉 Wishing you a wonderful springtime, Charlie! 🌞🌷
Thanks so much, Ann! 😃💕 I agree! I feel soooo much happier now than when I was younger. I’m not sure if I’ve grown more confident or have just realized that the ramifications of trying are never really that grim. hehe Hope you have a wonderful springtime as well!
you are cute and so is that lil chick !! loved reading this ! 🙂
hehe… awww thanks so much!! 😊💕