A man in his fifties came to me once and told me with considerable embarrassment that he had fallen in love.
Thomas Moore
A man in his fifties came to me once and told me with considerable embarrassment that he had fallen in love.
'I feel stupid,' he said. 'like an adolescent.'
I hear this often, that love arouses the adolescent. Anyone familiar with the history of art and literature knows that from the Greeks on down love has been portrayed as an untamable teenager.
'Oh you have something against this adolescent?'
'Am i ever going to grow up?' he asked in frustration.
'Maybe not,' I said. 'Maybe there are things in you that will never grow up. Doesn't this sudden influx of adolescence make you feel young, energetic and full of life?'
'Yes,' he said 'and also silly, immature, confused and crazy.'
'But that's adolescence,' I responded. 'It sounds to me like the Old Man in you is berating the Youth. Why make being a grown up the supreme value? Or, maybe I should ask, who in you is claiming that maturity is so important? It's the Old Man, isnt it?'