Recently, someone close to me lamented the fact she's getting older. One reason: Cyndi Lauper is now relegated on a particular music service to the oldies genre. I'm not sure I necessarily agree with the categorization, but that's not what this dialogue is really about. I wrote previously about how age is a relative thing. To a five year old, thirty seems impossibly old. Once you've reached that milestone, the bar gets pushed further, and suddenly old is something like ninety-five. Assuming music genres work the same way, it's not a surprise that some nineteen year old doing the programming at XM/Sirius considers Cyndi Lauper worthy of the oldies designation. I prefer the term classic, myself. My reasoning is that classic implies something better than old, and that's exactly what I think we become as we age! The true definition of classic describes someone or something as having recognized value, as well as lasting significance or worth.
For the most part, I enjoy getting older, and I appreciate older people. Getting older has its advantages, and I don't necessarily mean the senior discount at the local diner. I may be all over that in twenty-five years, but for now, that's a privilege my grandparents can enjoy. What I really mean is that getting older brings with it experiences, and with those experiences come a sense of true identity, and significance. I think younger generations, as much as they want to hold onto their youth, are unconsciously moving towards becoming classic. That's what having, or being part of a generation is really about. The best part of getting old (or classic!) is that you never have to do it alone. You can wax nostalgia with an entire group of individuals, who in many ways, have nothing else in common with you. As a group - a generation - you have recognized value, significance, and worth, and by definition - can be considered classic.
For the most part, I enjoy getting older, and I appreciate older people. Getting older has its advantages, and I don't necessarily mean the senior discount at the local diner. I may be all over that in twenty-five years, but for now, that's a privilege my grandparents can enjoy. What I really mean is that getting older brings with it experiences, and with those experiences come a sense of true identity, and significance. I think younger generations, as much as they want to hold onto their youth, are unconsciously moving towards becoming classic. That's what having, or being part of a generation is really about. The best part of getting old (or classic!) is that you never have to do it alone. You can wax nostalgia with an entire group of individuals, who in many ways, have nothing else in common with you. As a group - a generation - you have recognized value, significance, and worth, and by definition - can be considered classic.
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