The challenges of moving from one stage of life to another start early…and the transitions don’t get any easier as time goes on. 

Maybe you’re at an age at which you find yourself doing a fair amount of reflecting on your life–looking back at your past, taking stock of your present, and wondering about your future–and maybe that future scares you some, and you start to long for simpler or healthier times.

But you can be encouraged by the words of Anne Lamott:  “I am all the ages I’ve ever been.  You realize this at some point about your child—even when your kid is sixteen, you can see all the ages in him, the baby wrapped up like a burrito, the one-year-old about to walk, the four-year-old napping, the ten-year-old on a trampoline…every age we’ve ever been is who we are.

So how can I be represented by a snapshot, or any one specific aging age?  Isn’t the truth that this me is subsumed into all the me’s I already have been, and will be?

Indeed. And every age we’ve ever been, can help us find joy in whatever age we are. 

NOTES:

Podcast Episodes:

6 – Be Naked with Candy  https://jillbaughan.com/2020/04/13/podcast-episode-6-be-naked-with-candy/

51 – Have Some Big Dumb Fun   https://jillbaughan.com/2021/02/22/podcast-episode-51-have-some-big-dumb-fun/

71 – Throw Confetti  https://jillbaughan.com/2021/07/12/podcast-episode-71-throw-confetti/

13 – Make Some Mischief  https://jillbaughan.com/2020/06/01/podcast-episode-13-make-some-mischief/

88 – Dance  https://jillbaughan.com/2021/11/08/podcast-episode-88-dance/

25 – Let Music Take You to Joy  https://jillbaughan.com/2020/08/24/podcast-episode-25-let-music-take-you-to-joy/

27 – Take a Playful Risk  https://jillbaughan.com/2020/09/07/podcast-episode-27-take-a-playful-risk/

31 – Have Yourself an Adventure https://jillbaughan.com/2020/10/05/podcast-episode-31-have-yourself-an-adventure/

120 – Say Yes  https://jillbaughan.com/2022/06/20/podcast-episode-120-say-yes/

47 – Find a Hero, Then Be One https://jillbaughan.com/2021/01/25/podcast-episode-47-find-a-hero-then-be-one/

103 – Find a Guide  https://jillbaughan.com/2022/02/21/podcast-episode-103-find-a-guide/

Bowler, Kate, and Jessica Richie. Good Enough: 40ish Devotionals for a Life of Imperfection. Convergent Books, 2022.

Lamott, Anne. Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith. Riverhead Books, 2008.