Some time ago a 20-something woman asked me to answer the question …when do guys grow up? I had a few responses from the “guys”. One excellent answer was from Scott Hess, a 40-something forever young at heart guy and expert on American youth (see his TED talk here).
His advice on when guys grow up…”not until they have to.” Now his poem OF THIS WORLD captures a wonderful insight on the other side of growing up.
OF THIS WORLD
i feigned
caring too little
when i cared too
much; i feared breaking
down in sobs
when the world was
simply too very
caring too little
when i cared too
much; i feared breaking
down in sobs
when the world was
simply too very
much. older
now i find myself
pretending to care;
and though crying
might be appropriate
i find few tears left
there; it’s as if
as i grew
into the world i tried
to uncover what
it was about, and now
i find myself
detaching from this
question: alas, with wonder
intact, i am beginning
to grow out.
From Scott’s website, Tiny Poems.