(photo: October 2013)
"... just this and that in you disgusts me; ... here you miss, Or there exceed the mark”
My mother oft quoted these lines from Robert Browning's poem "My Last Duchess" - a poem about the Duke of Ferrara's late wife - to me when I was an early teenager. Not in a negative way but to remind me not to be too hard, critical on myself. Mary's post yesterday in response to this week's ThinkWrite Thursday prompt and reading an article in the current Bella Grace Magazine, issue - # 11, Spring 2017 : "51 Things we Love about Ourselves," pps 56 - 63, converged to bring forth Browning's quote to mind.
I think about how I think about myself, what my foibles and idiosyncrasies are, especially now that I am maturing. I remember that in my mid-30s, I heard a gerontologist share that our self-image stops at about age 35 - in other words, we don't mentally think of ourselves as growing/being older and it's only when we are faced with something that we cannot do or have difficulty doing - such as operating a manual can opener with ease - that we realize that our old feelings, as my grandmother described them, really do come into play.
I think it would /will be fun - and possibly a stretch - to come up with 51+ things I love (accept) about me growing older/being who I am. For starters:
- I have a chipped front tooth that I've lived with for decades...I got it rushing to breakfast when I was in college. I hit the safety release of the plate glass door and kept moving. The door didn't open... I can't say I necessarily love the chipped tooth but it is a part of me and my smile and a memory...it's me...
- I know I have knees, especially when I try to get up from being on the floor or rise from a standard height toilet. In this house, all our toilets are handicapped accessible height and I always opt for that stall in the public bathroom...
- I have a fear of heights so you won't find me hang gliding or climbing Mt. Everest (or any mountain for that matter); hey, if I'm in one of those elevators that are on the outside of a building, I am on the side that is close to the building...no looking out the glass outer wall...and I am quite OK with that...
- In 2013 I broke my right/write/stitching hand...a small hairline crack but serious enough for me to be in a cast for two months...these days I sometimes experience a little arthritis in that hand. To help ease the momentary discomfort, I put on an elastic, stretch glove. It helps immensely and I am still able to write/stitch/ use my right hand.
I will continue with this list and share again as I come up with other things...I encourage you to take a stab too and create your own list - it doesn't have to be 51 things. One is a great start! To be continued...
Cheers~