8 Jan 2015
I chanced on a former colleague from way back 20yrs ago. We caught up on each other’s goings-on. I told him I was taking up a Masteral course. And he reacts -“What are you – in the midst of a mid life crisis?” Initially I told him I just love to learn but he seemed disbelieving. And so to cut the conversation, I just agreed with him and told him that, yeah, it was probably a mid life crisis.
I got to thinking after our conversation.
Why would some people presume it’s a mid life crisis when one is doing something new in their 40’s? Why when I enrolled in French and German classes 20 years ago, no one raised an eyebrow? And when I enrolled in Law School 8 years ago, people never thought I was in a crisis – most simply said I was crazy. And when I took up flamenco 5 years ago, nobody seemed to think it was weird.
Learning shouldn’t stop simply because one is getting on in years. On the contrary, learning in and out of a formal institution, should be a continuing process.
So if this is a mid life crisis, so be it. Pretty soon I will also be having a late-life crisis and even up to a senior crisis, maybe even an end-of-the-rope crisis. Whatever. This will not be the last of my exploration process.
Omnia Mea Mecum Porto 
I would say such folk are just a tad jealous of your vitality and grab on life – stuff ’em, you are doing fine! My mother may be coming up 81, on her own (old man ran off 4 years ago), but she is constantly reinventing, and gallivanting across the globe on her own – she’s in Madeira now… I think 🙂
yup, your mom is my idol! 🙂
sometimes just to cut a toxic conversation short, you just have to agree,
Ard, you learn as you get older that agreeing sometimes is the easiest way out