The Silverback and The Lish have been back for a week now after spending two in The Tundra visiting The Silverback's familia. Now don't get me wrong, I missed them of course and I was a little bit riddled with guilt over taking off on this yoga week but the biggest surprise was how quickly I began settling into that carefree (and selfish...or is it?) pattern of the single person lifestyle. Meals for one to suit whatever craving you have (had a plate of olives on my first night alone, standing up in the kitchen); washing up for one; TV exclusivity and the ability to do what I want when I want. I think it's important for any parent or carer to take that one week to themselves every now and again. And it's also nice to miss people you know you'll see again.
With the return of the family comes an end to all the above and that's how I ended up watching one of those BBC Four culture documentaries, this time on Elton John. Personally I would have happily watched Jerseyshore, my new guilty pleasure but The Silverback insisted; it's not that he is a big Elton John fan - in fact outside of the tune Tiny Dancer, which he and probably most people under the age of 40 know from the film 'Almost Famous' - I doubt he would be able to hum you one bar of any other Elton John song. Still, he would rather watch a show about Elton's rise to stardom than watch 2 seconds of Jerseyshore. And so I must compromise because after all when golf or snooker gets too much to bear, I make him watch shows about cookery and house refurbishments.
Anyhoo, the point that I am meandering towards is that Elton talked about how he feels he only really matured when he reached the age of 43. Had I been watching this 10 years ago, I would have thought the man was obviously the worst kind of spoiled, instead I found myself relating in a big way. Having only just found a mental space that I feel comfortable with at the age of 39, Elton's own experience completely resonated. In fact if I carry on like this, I too could be on the path to maturity by the time I'm 43. And it only took 43 years.
Funny where you find answers to 'the meaning of life'. So the answer in fact isn't 42 (for Hitchhiker fans) it's actually 43. Who'da thunk it?
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