When the above picture was taken I had just left college. I'd turned down the chance of a place at the RCA, and decided instead to move to Wales with my wife and child, to get on with my life.
Living in the country, riding horses, and growing one's own vegetables, was trendy in those days (as it is again now), and a simple bucolic life had great appeal. I bought myself a big old run-down house, and began my life as an a 'quasi-adult'.
Before college I'd worked in The City, I'd managed a West End art gallery, and I'd run my own antiques business, but looking back, it all seemed like just an extension of school life; the smart suits, exact time-keeping, and strict rules, was hardly any different to life at my alma mater.
To be perfectly honest, I don't really feel like a pukka 'adult' even now. I think of myself as a free-thinking independent hooligan who has certain obligations. I can envisage myself on my death bed still wondering when I get to start taking life seriously.
35 comments:
What a wonderful way to live your life. I keep telling myself that we are taking life much more seriously than we should,i do it when i worry too much, which is most of the time.
That's exactly how I feel Cro.
I'm sure that I can give the three of you a few years, and although my exterior shows, alas too well, the years that have passed, my inner self is still waiting for me to grow up, and take life seriously. "Last of the Summer Wine" just about sums it up nicely I'd say.
Well said, Cro. You certainly live an idyllic life now. Good that you made that decision all the years back. Enjoy your weekend. Jo xx
You have plenty to worry about, with idiots running around stabbing people, and others throwing missiles at you. I'd worry too.
I think I made the right decision. Others just accept their lot; I'm not that type.
Compo and Cro are interchangeable.
Good.
I think that very many men....and some women....feel the way you do, Cro....
however, at various stages in life, external forces try to mould us to their expectations....
Teachers and parents for starters....
then colleagues and spouses.....
and friends, too, in a well meaning way.
You, you brave sod, made the decision very early, to break from the queue....
I wish now that I'd been brave enough....
no, not brave enough...
I would have stepped sideways off the conveyor...
if I'd realized that there were other avenues that I should have walked down....
I staggered off the conveyor a number of times....
But "kindly souls" pulled me back into the maelstrom....
A rare picture of you smiling - life must have been good. I still wonder what I will do when I grow up . I seem to have forgotten that I am an adult already.
Although my light shines bright it could shine brighter if I did not let others make their demands on me. Within my heart I feel my destiny calling, but other things always get in the way, or perhaps it is myself not listening to my inner self. Perhaps it is myself who makes my own light dimmer than what it should be!
Thanks for posting this blog, Cro, it came just at the right time for me to have a think about things. Vx
I see a good looking (smiling!) adult in the photo. I feel young, when I don't feel old. Greetings Maria x
I think there's a lot of us masquerading as "adults"!
Arilx
Luckily I've never been one to take too much advice from 'kindly souls'. I've made my mistakes by myself, and never regretted them.
We're obviously members of the same club.
I thought you were living your dream! Your life seems very idyllic to me.
I must have been caught unaware!
Probably MOST of us.
Yep I remember you. You picked me up hitch-hiking back in the day. I leapt out at Abergaveney. Remember?
You were a bit of a pin-up in those days Cro - had I known about you I would probably have had that picture on my bedroom wall!
Red hair, yellow jumper, flowing kaftan? Yes I remember you well.
Gosh; thou dos't flatter, Weave. I've always thought of myself as 'plain'.
Haha .... you haven't changed a bit Cro .... your life seems very much the same now as it was then !!! XXXX
Add a beard and cap and, I think your grandson, Harvey is a chip off the old block. x
Even now, when my body 'dances' whether I want it to or not, I don't feel much more than 17; unsure of myself but determined to forge ahead.
Have no idea who that old woman in the mirror might be.
Just as irresponsible eh?
Join the club. There's some old codger who lives in our house, but I've no idea who he is.
A 92 year old man told me recently that he forgets how old he is, and some mornings he wakes up, sees his wife, and thinks,"Good God! There's an old lady in my bed!!"
Hahaha!
I am now imagining you belting out the song "My Way", and with great gusto. And I agree.
Just because the exterior looks a bit frayed around the edges doesn't mean we have to act like old stodgy codgers or conform to expectations anyone else may have about how we should live our lives. Taking oneself too seriously is the fast tract to feeling as old as we look. May we all continue to be free thinkers as long as our gray matter continues to function.
LOVE that picture of you!
I know what he means (ahem).
I've never taken myself seriously; nor too many others either!
I keep wondering how all my friends have become middle-aged. :)
I'm retired and I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up.
It is, it is! Thanks for reminding me!
I've given-up even thinking about it.
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