Once upon a time, I couldn’t wait to turn fifty.
In the early to mid-nineties, most of my role models were in their fifties.
These forces of nature and nurture ranged from small business owners to corporate power suits, marital teams who’d achieved domestic deification (sex lives intact), and LGBTQA+ artists brave enough to live their truths underground, unaware they were paving a yellow-bricked road to a rainbow future. From religious leaders in thriving churches to the lifestyles of the rich and famous.
My parents, teachers, coworkers, castmates, bosses, boss’s bosses, friend’s parents, aunts and uncles, and friends of the family I’d considered family.
They’d put in some real f*cking work and, by their fifties, had arrived at this magical place of ability and stability. They just seemed so… confident. Secure. Functional. From the outside looking in, I had concluded that these midlife unicorns, worthy of admiration and emulation, truly had their shit together.
God, I can’t wait to be fifty.
But when you don’t see the entire picture, it’s tinted in a bright and cheery shade of rose until it isn’t. Magical thinking is a beautiful, messed-up survival mechanism that can keep you in a bubble of your own making. And then…? What happens when the true colors start to set in? What happens when the bubble… bursts?
Well, I’ve got some good and difficult news about that…
Over time, as the child-adult gap decreases and you become the adult in the room, too, the secrets unravel, and the unf*cking begins. “Did you know that she had three miscarriages by the time she had little Sally?” “Did you know that he had an affair, and they were sleeping in separate rooms for two years?” “Did you know that we were desperately poor?” “Did you know?” “Did you know?”
Our role models suffered. A fuck ton. But they didn’t show it because they felt they had to protect us. So we grew up thinking there’s some magic in a future self somewhere. Then, when that future self never shows up, who the fuck are we anyway?
That’s what I’m here to find out: once the magical thinking is gone, once the bubble has burst, once the programming has short-circuited, who the fuck am I anyway?
I thought I would know by now, but I don’t. Maybe I never will.
Or maybe, just maybe, I will figure it out. All of it? Some of it? Most of it?
As of today, I have no idea…
What I do know is that I will be documenting this process on the gods-forsaken internet.
*devilish grins* 😈🖤
Hi, I’m Jaye, and I’m here to unf*ck myself.
Unf*cked Quote of the Day:
“All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost.”
J.R.R. Tolkien
So tell me, internet: is everything f*cked for you right now, too? How do you feel when you look at my generation (Gen-X)? Do we look like we have our shit together, or are we just all a bunch of big kids who’ve lost our way? What are the biggest areas you’re working on in life right now? Or are you cool with TikTokking it all out and calling it a day? Introduce yourself! I may not be here to help you in a codependent way, but I’d love to get to know you and share our stories. 😍 Also, please consider subscribing to my newsletter or following me on social media to keep the conversation flowing!
Not Gen-X. Twenty past that. Life is not grand but doable if I could iron out a few things. And I will iron them out. Mostly dealing with the prevalence of morons today, the pointless, selfish attitudes many have on life, and over compensating for others’ shortcomings. Hang tough. Adopt the attitude that you’re going to do this life thing on YOUR terms and see how many people you can mess-over in the process. Most people deserve some messing-over. Someone’s gotta do it. Might as well be me.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts! Yes, I AM going to do this on MY terms. 🙌🏻🖤
I’m a little behind you on age, and never saw a magic number, but everything else… YES!! I really thought at some point it’d all make sense and not become such a clusterf*ck of me literally not understanding or having any answers. I really thought at some point my brain would make sense of it all. I loved your post 👌🏻.
Amy! Thank you so much for the response. I’m grateful to not be alone, and please know that you’re not alone either! I think we WILL figure this sh*t out. I just think it’s a lot messier than we’d ever been led to believe. I believe in Happily Ever After, it’s just a bit of a clusterf*ck, but that’s okay, it’s life. 😀
❤️❤️❤️ I look forward to reading about life through your eyes and THANK GOODNESS we’re not alone.
***HUGS!** 🙌🏻💝
I’m in my early 60s and think I wasted too much time caring about stuff that wasn’t important, or I didn’t have the power to change. The trouble is being a globe world we receive too much information which makes life seem more depressing than it really is, and most things are out of our control anyway. I’m now learning to enjoy my life and to care about things that are within my power to change and let the rest go.
Hi Paula – thank you so much for taking the time to comment here! I agree with you: we’re living in an era of “TMI.” (lol) Letting go is a powerful skill! Here’s to what’s important. ✨🥂✨
🤜🤛
✨🖤✨