It's weird being the same age as old people

The other day I saw a teeshirt slogan that said It's weird being the same age as old people. I laughed, because although 'old' is a word that I refuse to use it is kind of true ...

According to a recent poll here in France, where I live, the majority of people think that 'old age' begins at 69 (though for the World Health Organisation it's 60). When I look around the folk in my village, or read books that have an older person as a character, I admit to thinking of them as other, older people ... while the truth is that I'm probably as old or even older than some of them myself. At the same time though many of my friends are in their 70s, 80s or even 90s, and do I think of them as 'old'? No, I don't - probably because they're People Like Me (otherwise we wouldn't be friends), I don't think about age, and they're just lively, fun people to be around.

But the truth is that I just haven't a sense of myself as someone who's grown - or is even growing - older. Even being grown up is something a bit out there for me because being grown up means taking life too seriously. Maybe it's because I'm an only child of elderly parents (ha! Did you spot that word?) who has consciously chosen not to have children, so in my head I will forever be part of the younger generation. 

My favourite mug, given to me by a great friend over 25 years ago and used for my coffee every day

I still do most of the things I used to do when I was 28 - play rock music too loud, dance at festivals, wear brightly coloured clothes, dance down the street wearing earphones, go and scream on the top of a hill when I'm feeling stressed, jump waves in the sea, all that kind of thing. I'm lucky enough to have good health, I weigh much less than I did for the last 30 years and I feel fitter than I ever have, though the downside is that I have way too much skin for my body and my face has decided to be the living proof that gravity exists. All of this may - and probably will - pass, but at this time, in this moment, being alive is pretty good.

And in October this year I'm going to be 70, which kind of is the same age as old people. And yes, it is weird. 

But it's also rather wonderful, and I've decided to celebrate it by committing to do 70 inspiring new things before I hit 71. That means I have a whole 20 months to work my way through my list. A lot can go wrong grind slowly but inexorably to a halt during that time. In the Hindu Trimurti, I'm very much a Brahma type girl - a Creator - with a just a hint of Vishnu, the Sustainer - and I'm renowned for leaving behind me a trail of started-but-unfinished projects/bits of craft/ideas that seemed great for a month but then got metaphorically or literally pushed to the back of the cupboard.

So hence this blog (my third, although the other two eventually became victims of my Brahma nature). It's to keep me Sustaining, to keep me accountable for what I've decided to do and make me look a right public idiot if I don't finish. I honestly don't expect anyone to read it, but the point is that Someone Might, and even if they don't it's a form of marking what feels like an important milestone for me. 

I'm not entirely certain yet what I'm going to write about - The List, certainly, but also the experience of approaching, and then being, seventy and the things that that leads me to discover and face.