DUPLICATE OF APRIL 20TH ESSAY (Note: FYI - same essay as April 20TH)
I am a Baby Boomer. We were born between 1946 and 1964 and are now between 48 and 67 years of age.
Younger Boomers are pretty sceptical when I tell them the streets were filled with music, with 'music everywhere', but it was true.* Usually it was not posh or glamorous, but it was colourful, enthusiastic and spontaneous.
Yorkville, before it was gentrified, was considered a haven for hippie coffee shops and cafes. Woodstock was not a personal experience for many of us and the old concerts were a long time ago.
When the movie Across the Universe was made in 2007, however, I felt that every Boomer, young and old, could find some part of it which reflected their own experiences of the time. At the very least, it reminded most of us of that happy time of our youth when everything seemed possible, and we were sure we'd change the world for the better.
We changed as we grew up, losing some of our innocence and spontaneity, some of our idealism and our dreams, but many of us have converted our youthful dreams into putting our time and money into supporting causes we have believed in all of our lives.
Perhaps just as importantly, we are passing on the knowledge of what freedom feels like to those we care about in the next generation. We know we can tell them firsthand that if you dare to dream and find beauty in what you see around you, you change the world into a better, more humane place.
Because there are so many of us, I suggest some time soon, we also finally tell the fashion magazines and fashion industry, that lurking outside of health clinics looking for anorexic girls to make into models, will not sell us clothes or expensive age defying elixirs. These kids don't have wrinkles, they think they are fat. They make good clothes hangers because they are unhealthy, they have unlined faces because they are still adolescents.
I cited a survey that said Women feel old at 29 and Men feel old at 58, in yesterday's Growing Pains Blog.** Going by this, strangely the oldest Boomer male might possibly have felt old for 9 years, whereas a woman, born in 1984 and 20 years younger than the youngest Boomer woman, is already looking for signs of aging and wondering whether she should start lying about her age. We might be better off to rethink age, and like P.J. O'Rourke appreciate that "Age and Guile Beat Youth, Innocence and a Bad Haircut".
When C.A.R.P. (the Canadian Association of Retired People) tries for expanded readership by trying to re brand itself as for those 55 and over; I somehow can't imagine my fellow Boomers running to apply. Meanwhile, maybe some Rosedale matron can tell me what a Zoomer is.
Both groups have forgotten:
Boomer Rule #l - We will never admit to being old willingly;
Boomer Rule #2 - We built this city on Rock and Roll.
I urge all of us to be nicer to our cohort, it is a large one that covers a 25 year age span. The oldest of us, might have daughters and sons who are among the youngest of us. We're all Boomers together and deciding that an older Boomer is ancient, by those of us a few years younger, is insulting and tacky.
My Women friends were beautiful physically and mentally then or as I put it, beautiful inside and out, and they still are. Meanwhile, I hope that the Men out there sometimes think of some man who they respected and admired, and see him looking back at them when they look in the mirror.
Age is only relevant when you are drinking Vintage Wine, which incidentally you can now enjoy, and also, afford. Smile, be good to yourself, and others around you. You know who you aspired to be; you recognize the person who held onto his ideals in the lovely person you have evolved into. You have lived, and continue to live, better than earlier generations could afford to in both education and material benefits. Thinking about this, all I can think of personally is that: "I JUST WANT TO CELEBRATE ANOTHER DAY OF LIVING".***
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mamas_%26_the_Papas - Dancing in the Streets
**http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2011/08/08/how-old-is-old-women-say-29_n_921025.html
I am a Baby Boomer. We were born between 1946 and 1964 and are now between 48 and 67 years of age.
Younger Boomers are pretty sceptical when I tell them the streets were filled with music, with 'music everywhere', but it was true.* Usually it was not posh or glamorous, but it was colourful, enthusiastic and spontaneous.
Yorkville, before it was gentrified, was considered a haven for hippie coffee shops and cafes. Woodstock was not a personal experience for many of us and the old concerts were a long time ago.
When the movie Across the Universe was made in 2007, however, I felt that every Boomer, young and old, could find some part of it which reflected their own experiences of the time. At the very least, it reminded most of us of that happy time of our youth when everything seemed possible, and we were sure we'd change the world for the better.
We changed as we grew up, losing some of our innocence and spontaneity, some of our idealism and our dreams, but many of us have converted our youthful dreams into putting our time and money into supporting causes we have believed in all of our lives.
Perhaps just as importantly, we are passing on the knowledge of what freedom feels like to those we care about in the next generation. We know we can tell them firsthand that if you dare to dream and find beauty in what you see around you, you change the world into a better, more humane place.
Because there are so many of us, I suggest some time soon, we also finally tell the fashion magazines and fashion industry, that lurking outside of health clinics looking for anorexic girls to make into models, will not sell us clothes or expensive age defying elixirs. These kids don't have wrinkles, they think they are fat. They make good clothes hangers because they are unhealthy, they have unlined faces because they are still adolescents.
I cited a survey that said Women feel old at 29 and Men feel old at 58, in yesterday's Growing Pains Blog.** Going by this, strangely the oldest Boomer male might possibly have felt old for 9 years, whereas a woman, born in 1984 and 20 years younger than the youngest Boomer woman, is already looking for signs of aging and wondering whether she should start lying about her age. We might be better off to rethink age, and like P.J. O'Rourke appreciate that "Age and Guile Beat Youth, Innocence and a Bad Haircut".
When C.A.R.P. (the Canadian Association of Retired People) tries for expanded readership by trying to re brand itself as for those 55 and over; I somehow can't imagine my fellow Boomers running to apply. Meanwhile, maybe some Rosedale matron can tell me what a Zoomer is.
Both groups have forgotten:
Boomer Rule #l - We will never admit to being old willingly;
Boomer Rule #2 - We built this city on Rock and Roll.
I urge all of us to be nicer to our cohort, it is a large one that covers a 25 year age span. The oldest of us, might have daughters and sons who are among the youngest of us. We're all Boomers together and deciding that an older Boomer is ancient, by those of us a few years younger, is insulting and tacky.
My Women friends were beautiful physically and mentally then or as I put it, beautiful inside and out, and they still are. Meanwhile, I hope that the Men out there sometimes think of some man who they respected and admired, and see him looking back at them when they look in the mirror.
Age is only relevant when you are drinking Vintage Wine, which incidentally you can now enjoy, and also, afford. Smile, be good to yourself, and others around you. You know who you aspired to be; you recognize the person who held onto his ideals in the lovely person you have evolved into. You have lived, and continue to live, better than earlier generations could afford to in both education and material benefits. Thinking about this, all I can think of personally is that: "I JUST WANT TO CELEBRATE ANOTHER DAY OF LIVING".***
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mamas_%26_the_Papas - Dancing in the Streets
**http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2011/08/08/how-old-is-old-women-say-29_n_921025.html
***http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Just_Want_to_Celebrate - Rare Earth 1971.
RELATED BLOGS: BABY BOOMERS - A 25 YEAR SPAN BETWEEN 1946-1964 (2011) and
BABY BOOMERS - TALKING ABOUT MY GENERATION STEPPING UP (2013)
RELATED BLOGS: BABY BOOMERS - A 25 YEAR SPAN BETWEEN 1946-1964 (2011) and
BABY BOOMERS - TALKING ABOUT MY GENERATION STEPPING UP (2013)
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