Tuesday, 30 October 2007

It's just a 40th Birthday Nothing to get upset about

You know you are turning 40 when you can't get it together to write on your blog.
Yes it is true, at 10 past 8 this morning I turned 40. Over the last day or so I have had a range of responses from people including:
"You are joking there is no way you are 40" Bless them bless them I say!
to " well it's all down hill from here" which was accompanied by a series of brochures from aged concern.

I don't care what you say the glass half empty or full, in the end it is a mile stone I would rather were not here. Usually I just embrace such things to the max yet with 40 it is different. Now the expectation is a mix of seriousness, ticking clocks and a penchant for tragic 80's hits entitled "Life Begins at 40 you wonder why you feel so naughty".

Enough I say! Life wasn't supposed to be like this for me at 40! I was supposed to be super cosmopolitan artsy girl with a baby on one hip and a film script in the other. I would travel the world and come back to New Zealand to my wonderful little cottage in the city or disappear to my imaginary batch on the west coast where I would watch storms unfold over turbulent seas, safe and cosy with a coal range and a wide screen tv.

At the traditional dio office morning tea I was asked what wisdom would I like to impart from my 40 years experience. A disturbing question at the best of times made even more so when the question is asked by the bishop.

Then I thought actually it is very simple
'take more risks,
go on spontaneous road trips,
love as deeply, dangerously, and adoringly as possible,
create great works of art that only your loved ones could love,
and make sure that every now and then you catch fish yourself from the sea and cook and eat it right there over a smokey fire on a rocky shore.

What more can I say I need to remember to practice what I preach

Happy Birthday to me