17 We cannot live the afternoon of life according to the programme of life's morning.....

Funny because when you start to do some writing thinking that that you might have something new to say, once you start to do a bit of research it’s not long before you discover that a lot of it has been said before!

Just googling ‘Gay Wisdom Blog’ today threw up about 20 or so sites.

The most interesting one was Gay Banker. I’ve set up a link to his blog on the top right of this page. There was also an interesting article in the Gay Sydney Star Observer about gay mentorship. So I’m not the only one thinking what I’m thinking about gay youth cut adrift and captain-less!

I also came across the quote, which forms the title of this week’s blog

This was quoted in a blog of an elder woman who was reflecting on her horror at being exposed to an aspect of mainstream culture whilst staying with friends. They were watching a TV program at breakfast featuring a faded model who had decided to go for a facelift because she craved what she had lost.

We cannot live the afternoon of life according to the program of life's morning, for what was great in the morning will be little at evening, and what in the morning was true will at evening have become a lie.

I liked the quote

What wise words!

I also came across a book on Gay Witchcraft that had a spell to honor elder hood. The ritual involved rubbing oil into the skin of the naked body and thanking it; loving every aspect of it, visualizing it’s use into the future and the pleasure it will be capable of giving. Such an unusual thing to contemplate doing when the usual routine is to scan my body for the bits that have started to remind me of my dad!

The skin over my calves has started to loose it’s masculine curly hairs. And fine blue veins have started to spring up along my shins. There’s a catalogue of aches and pains which never used to be there but are now a regular accompaniment to my perception of the world-aches in the joints of my hands, a pain on the outside of my right knee, spasm and pain in the muscle going from the outside of my knee to my hip, tension in the muscle between my right shoulder blade and my spine. Receding hairline, grey hair, bags starting to appear under my eyes, receding gums. The idea of swapping things around and doing a daily review of what’s working. Being amazed at this wonderful body that’s survived getting on for 50 years. Akin to the majesty of great Oak-well not that old-maybe a splendid horse chestnut tree. Just there, alive and likely to be around for much longer. Yes I shall start to do a positive body stock take from now on rather than focusing on what’s old and worn out !!