JUST RECENTLY, I chanced upon a poem about many shared moments, entitled “The Valuable Time of Maturity,” by Brazilian writer and artist Mario de Andrade.
“ I counted my years and discovered that I have less time to live going forward than I have lived until now. (I’m 71) I have more past than future. I feel like the boy who received a bowl full of candies. The first ones, he ate ungracious, but when he realized there were only a few left, he began to taste them deeply.”
I am certain everyone has had their own ‘bowl of candies’ experience in life, so you know what that means, especially now, when literally, time is nearly running out. However, for some of you, Andrade’s allusion to a spent-up youth might not have been the only thing he wrote about.
Even as the younger years might not have been that wild for most, there must surely have been moments wherein one felt one could live on forever.
Back in the early 80s, I had my share of meeting some wild youths, whose motto had been “walang kamatayan”, which roughly translated meant not afraid to die.
While the companionship lasted (which really wasn’t that long), it was great fun, although at most times, I found myself being just an observer of sorts because I couldn’t really bond with them, who were much younger in both age and trips.
In the later years, I had met a few of them again in another chance encounter, and you could say that they were definitely almost “out of candies.” One even quipped, “No more beers and liquors for me brod, only tea this time.” And that tells a lot.
In my many senior convos, I also hear a lot about the concept of ‘aging gracefully’. That seems ridiculous and odd to me. Grinch that I might have turned into, I always felt that the term might as well be a placebo to complement one’s age. Just accept it; no need to coat it; it’s part of nature, whether you like it or not. After all, grinch or gracious, you’re old. Period.
I remember once in Perth, Australia, 19 years ago, a little kid had asked me how old I was. I said 52. And he exclaimed, “Wow, that’s old!” There’s no coating on that. Thinking about that episode once again, I feel ancient already.
Back to the piece by D’ Andrade, I would suggest you try to find the said poem and read it. Who knows, it might be a mantra one day.
After he had enumerated all that he had deemed useless in his aging years, he ended with one finality: eventually, we should be content with only the essentials because “they are what makes life worthwhile.”
He adds, “I do not have time to deal with mediocrity… Yes, I am in a hurry… to live with intensity…I intend not to waste any part of the goodies I have left.” We might as well start counting the candies, my batch mates!
