Forty is the New Twenty, Right?

In which I'm pleased to find, as I turn over into middle age, that the last wayward, frustrating year has actually given me exactly what I need.

Photo by Lan Gao on Unsplash

This morning I turn 40.

Have you reached this milestone?

I remain confused. A little disappointed, but also hopeful?

However, I’m told I tend to enter all new situations with hope. A naive hope, I’m sure. The weight on my heart lifts with every move to a new (or old) town, I begin each academic program (even each academic year) with the same bright-eyed bushy-tailed enthusiasm I must have started kindergarten with as I pushed past my sniveling mom into the classroom ready to see my best friend and color my squirrel.

Even small beginnings, like the purchase of tools and materials get me started on new projects.

Oh, new projects. How many of those have I started with uninhibited joy only to go off them as quickly?

And it’s these lost projects that cause disappointment.

Not every project is meant to be finished, of course, many will remain in the SOMEDAY/MAYBE folder indefinitely. Many notes will be a mystery just weeks after they’re recorded. Who knows where a ph…