Passing of Time

The last week or so I cited someone's comment to me that the passing of time was obviously important to me. I have considered that reality and wondered how long that has been going on. Is this a midlife matter or something that rests at a more cellular level. As I've thought about the matter, I found clues further and further in my past when I was touched or concerned about the passing of time. A poem that I wrote at age 17 about honoring an old man and wondering whether he had hard feelings of lost abilities and memories was clearly influenced by Neil Young's "Old Man." The song was influential, and I was naturally receptive.

But today, as I struggle for words with this week's Listen to Life newsletter, I select tunes that take me back to a different time and place. "Puff the Magic Dragon" plays and the answer comes clear. The reason that I still cry when I read Sly Silverstein's "The Giving Tree" is the same reason that after a few listens to "Puff" as a young kid, I could not listen to it for decades. They both to speak to the changes, the losses, and the mortality of aging, and how that changes relationships. They also speak to the permanence of love throughout.

The passing of time has always concerned and intrigued me; I've done my best to honor that through my creative outlets as an adult. I realize that this concern is nothing new that I need to re-align to forge into the future. My concern for changes manifested over time and for the lasting of love and relationships was written into my DNA. The question remains, what do I do with this? and now how can I get rid of this?