A sweet reflection to "tide" us over
Bernadette Noll writes...
This viral poem, “I want to age like sea glass” just found its way to my Facebook feed, and it so speaks to “coming of aging” that I am sharing it with you. There’s a reason why some things go viral.
I wanted to find out the back story. Apparently her sister died at 57 and as Bernadette healed slowly, she’d walk the beach. A pocket full of smooth beach glass inspired her. She said: “ I found a tiny piece of blue sea glass, which made me think of her and how her growing old was thwarted.
“I kept that glass in my pocket for weeks, and one day the thought just hit me: I want to age like sea glass. It isn’t sharp or jagged. It is lovely in whatever shape you find it, and the more it has been tossed around the more lovely it is.”
The poem
“I want to age like sea glass. Smoothed by tides, not broken. I want the currents of life to toss me around, shake me up and leave me feeling washed clean. I want my hard edges to soften as the years pass — made not weak, but supple. I want to ride the waves, go with the flow, feel the impact of the surging tides rolling in and out.
“When I am thrown against the shore and caught between the rocks and a hard place, I want to rest there until I can find the strength to do what is next. Not stuck — just waiting, pondering, feeling what it feels like to pause. And when I am ready, I will catch a wave and let it carry me along to the next place that I am supposed to be.
”I want to be picked up on occasion by an unsuspected soul and carried along — just for the connection, just for the sake of appreciation and wonder. And with each encounter, new possibilities of collaboration are presented, and new ideas are born.
“I want to age like sea glass so that when people see the old woman I’ll become, they’ll embrace all that I am. They’ll marvel at my exquisite nature, hold me gently in their hands and be awed by my well-earned patina. Neither flashy nor dull, just the right luster. And they’ll wonder, if just for a second, what it is exactly I am made of and how I got to be in this very here and now. And we’ll both feel lucky to realize, once again, that we have landed in that perfectly right place at that profoundly right time.
“I want to age like sea glass. I want to enjoy the journey and let my preciousness be, not in spite of the impacts of life, but because of them.”
~Bernadette Noll
That's beautiful, Vicki! This is the part that really hit home for me - Not stuck — just waiting, pondering, feeling what it feels like to pause. So often, we think of ourselves as "being stuck." Stuck in a situation. Stuck in a place we don't want to be. Stuck without any direction. But maybe it's just a switch of our mindset. To let go of the need to always be doing something and be somewhere and let ourselves ponder, wait, and pause. Maybe that is the sweet beauty of aging?
This helps me realize afresh how lucky I am to be comfortable with aging, finding the grace that accompanies loss of agility or perhaps stamina, and having a lifelong sense of purpose. Susan's comment about being invisible reminds me too how lucky I was to work and live such a long time in Africa, where elders are celebrated and sought after for pearls of wisdom or guidance - rather than demeaned by condescending or dismissive thirtysomething caregivers (as I observed in Florida when my parents joined a community of fascinating, eccentric, accomplished old folks). Thank you Vicki for this Coming of Aging project. It is one of your greatest beds of quirky wisdom yet!