I was Young, and now I’m not

A couple posts ago I wrote about my Norwegian Sweater (http://memoirouswrite.blogspot.com/2020/01/the-norwegian-sweater.html). Specifically I wrote about how when I was younger the idea of wearing a thick, wool sweater set me aflame in hot flashes.

This is not exactly a series of flashes about hot flashes (though it sounds alliteratively interesting), but I would like to write and explore the idea of what used to feel totally wrong, now is exactly who I am now. Basically I was Young, and now I’m not.

Case study: Sundays

I used to burn with the energy of a thousand suns. I Sunday came around and I had not done “anything,” then I would have to fix that. Sundays were for ten-mile runs. Going down to the park and playing soccer. Finding someone and riding my bike –60 miles. Sundays were the capstone to an epic weekend. If Sunday night rolled around and I didn’t have anything to tell my friends at work the next day then the weekend was a wash-up.

At bootcamp when I go to the Saturday 9 a.m. workout afterwards the instructor asks us: What are your plans for the weekend?

Nothing, I answer. That, to me, at this stage of my life, sounds like a perfectly good answer. I like this clip of John Mulvaney basically saying the same thing (about a minute and a half in) https://youtu.be/vKaijlTs2Ns

Case Study: Pajamas

Remember that line from Steinfeld (YouTube https://youtu.be/RejbhAKhimI ) that wearing sweatpants when not working out is like giving up. I am, at this stage in my life, a huge proponent of loungewear. There is nothing I want more after dinner than to switch into my pajamas. At about 6 o’clock. Sometimes as early as 4 pm. In fact, as soon as I take off my pajamas in the morning I immediately want to get back into them.

I’ll stare with longing at my pajamas bunched up on the floor of the bathroom and feel nostalgic.

When I was younger, though, it was the opposite. I would do anything to avoid the end of the day, and the work it took to get ready for bed. I wanted to skip over that whole getting into pajamas thing, stay up super late, and then fall into bed. In fact, I never got into pajamas before 11 pm. I might if I was sick.

It was the same thing with the television. I never watched TV during the day because that was like giving up. You were broadcasting to the world that you had nothing better to do than to what crummy daytime TV. It was like giving up. Even worse was watching daytime TV while still in your pajamas. Now that sounds like the perfect thing.

Obviously, I am no longer young. But hopefully I’m not old.