The other night, I was at a bar where the scene was quiet young. And by young, I mean those who just became legal to drink. My friend and I were chatting with some people and I believe it was I who had mentioned the crowd was rather young at this particular bar and so, our ages came up. When this cute young girl said she thought I was twenty-five, I corrected her by telling her, “Nope, thirty-three.” And it was at this point where her jaw dropped. LITERALLY DROPPED. She couldn’t believe it. To her, thirty-three was old.

A different night, I was talking to a man in his later fifties and asked him the well-known question by Satchel Paige, “How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you were?” He answered that he would be in his early to mid thirties, remarking that it would be old enough to know himself and have certain knowledge of such. To him, that was the age he felt.

As I embark fully into my thirties, having recently turned thirty-three, I find myself thinking about age and whether it really matters or not. I suppose in terms of biology, it does. For example, a woman who wants to carry a baby must biologically be able to do so or the biological fact that we cannot live forever, but otherwise, does it really matter?

Clearly, we must mature into adulthood, but is there a single answer as to what “adulthood” is? I don’t believe so. For some, it’s getting married and having children. For others, it’s being independent and going after a demanding life dream. Or maybe a combination of both. I suppose it’s whatever is important and meaningful to that particular individual. Being one who has opted to go after the difficult livelihood of a filmmaker and not want the traditional adulthood of home, kids, etc… I find that I may perhaps think less about age than others, but regardless, I wonder why age itself would limit or define someone, with exception to reproduction and mortality. I plan on listening to the music I love until I die, I plan on seeing concerts until I’m unable to leave the house, I plan on making movies until I am physically no longer able to and I plan on living like I’m the age I feel, not the age I am, until my clock stops ticking.

Must age dictate what we can or cannot do?

Sure, we age every day, but while we are living, why not live as though we don’t? Yeah, we have to be aware of reality but what is age really, other than a measurement of our time on earth? There is no chart that says one must do X by so and so age. You create your own chart.

I’m thirty-three and have never had a full cup of coffee.

The next time you find yourself saying, “I’m too old for that” – ask yourself  – Why, exactly?

And then ponder this thoughtful question:

“How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you were?”
– Satchel Paige