{"id":339,"date":"2019-01-21T19:02:21","date_gmt":"2019-01-22T00:02:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/?p=339"},"modified":"2022-02-13T10:04:34","modified_gmt":"2022-02-13T15:04:34","slug":"happy-birthday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/happy-birthday\/","title":{"rendered":"happy birthday"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s funny. I don\u2019t just feel a year older, but maybe 20 or 30.<\/p>\n

I think I came to this realization after my first doctor\u2019s appointment at the \u201cbig girl\u201d office\u2014as opposed to my pediatrician\u2019s with the colorful plastic chairs and Mr. Rogers mural<\/a> on the wall.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I was sitting in the waiting room on an early morning surrounded by senior citizens talking about the notes from the last AARP meeting, diabetes and compression socks and I couldn\u2019t help but think that I was walking down the same road.<\/p>\n

Sure, one day I would be like them, but embarrassingly enough I think I’m currently pretty close.<\/p>\n

You are as old as you feel, and given my routines of going to bed before 10:00 and binge watching MASH reruns in my spare time, I\u2019d say that puts me at least around 55, if not 60.<\/p>\n

Not to mention I haven\u2019t even graduated college and I\u2019m already looking forward to retirement. I ritualistically accompany the New York Times with a cup of coffee and daily multivitamin every morning. I like to wake up between the hours of 7:30 and 8:30 because otherwise I feel like I\u2019m wasting daylight.<\/p>\n

Time is a funny thing: it heals,\u00a0drags and flies.<\/p>\n

With that being said, I think time is also subjective; it looks and feels different to everyone.<\/p>\n

Anyone who knows me knows how obsessed I am with nostalgia. The funny thing is, I’m not necessarily nostalgic for eras I lived through. In fact I’m not only interested but constantly longing for those in which I haven’t.<\/p>\n

Growing up I underwent a major TV Land phase. My weekdays after school consisted of Bonanza, the Rifleman, All in the Family, The Jeffersons, Good Times, MASH and The Dick Van Dyke Show.\u00a0On the weekends I could throw Roseanne and the Rockford Files into the mix.<\/p>\n

I say with the upmost humility that I own a pretty impressive record collection. It’s easily one of my proudest possessions, some of the highlights being Rod Stewart’s\u00a0A Picture Tells A Story,\u00a0<\/em>Neil Young’s\u00a0Harvest\u00a0<\/em>and Joan Baez’s\u00a0Farewell Angelina.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I’m often asked if my parents watched or listened to these variations of classic entertainment, and I have to say the answer is no. I don’t know how it happened but I stumbled upon all of these on my own, and over the years made them a part of my identity.<\/p>\n

For all those reasons I feel like I\u2019ve lived through it all\u2014at least through the 70’s. Which would explain my nervous empathy towards the seniors in that waiting room (as well as my theories of reincarnation which I’ll get to later).<\/p>\n

As of today I\u2019m 22 on the 22nd, but honestly, I can\u2019t say I ever fully felt 21. At this rate I think I must have felt 21 when I was maybe 15. And I guess going forward I\u2019ll probably feel 100 when I\u2019m 40.<\/p>\n

I’m two decades in and have already allowed social interactions to exhaust me, my couch to convince me to stay in every weekend and my books to be my closest companions.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m often told that I\u2019m \u201cwise beyond my years\u201d and while it was first a compliment, I think it\u2019s become a detriment.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s often led me to believe that I\u2019m actually an old lady in a 20-something\u2019s body\u2014\u00a0b<\/span>ut not the boring kind who sits in doctors\u2019 offices talking about the last AARP meeting but the kind who in her younger days watched the Beatles live on Ed Sullivan and attended Woodstock for the whole three days.<\/p>\n

And while she was at it, she probably attended Live Aid at JFK Stadium as well as Nirvana\u2019s MTV Unplugged show at Madison Square Garden.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m inspired by those who age gracefully. I love when gray hair is embraced, glasses are unapologetically worn, and dinner for lunch is acceptable.\u00a0But at this point in my life, I think it\u2019s even more important to be inspired by youthfulness; to actually appreciate my 20s.<\/p>\n

Time\u2019s funny: it can be spent,\u00a0shared and wasted.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been said that today is the oldest you\u2019ve ever been and the youngest you\u2019ll ever be, and I guess because I don\u2019t believe in reincarnation, that means I actually<\/i> am 22.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t yet have curly gray hairs, I ought to stay up past 9:30 and I don\u2019t need to talk myself out of late night ice cream because it isn\u2019t good for my blood pressure.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n