Aw, grow up.

Everyone else my age is an adult. Whereas I am merely in disguise.

Margaret Atwood
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"The actors are come hither, my Lord." Shakespeare
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I was recently talking with a friend who is about my age and I said that these days I was masquerading as a senior citizen. He said "So am I." He's also an artist.

It's not so much that creative work keeps you young as that it is outside of age altogether. Mozart, in his music, was a wise old man even though he only lived into his 30's, Some writers don't start writing their novels until their 70's or 80's.

In my younger years I triad to be an adult. I wasn't good at it. Back then I thought I knew what an adult was, a serious minded professional, a responsible and contributive member of society with a solid goal and a well defined purpose in life, an authority figure in his chosen line of work. But I was none of those things.

I was a performing artist, an actor, a player. A player is one who plays. Just because I was able to convincingly depict grown ups on the stage didn't mean that I was one.

Furthermore, a serious adult doesn't find anything amusing about the serious issues of life. But I, thank heaven, and to the great scorn of some around me, had a sense of humor which I still have.

Now, if I can't remember someone's name it doesn't throw me into a vortex of grief over losing my memory. After all these years I have a large library of names stacked up in my mind. You can't expect me to remember all of them at the flick of a switch. I send the research assistant who resides in my brain down into the vaults to go through the files until he comes up with it.

I'm still the boy I was 60 years ago, discovering life and gratefully turning my discoveries into things that are beautiful, I hope. Now, in my current disguise, I enjoy playing the role of an adult and a senior citizen. Just don't ask me to grow up. .

DB - The Vagabond
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No smart aleck remarks about Peter Pan, please.
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