Saw a picture of you today taken years before I found you
Your face was like a cloudless sky; sparks of angels flew around you
Your hair tumbled long like waves, went crashing on your brow
You were beautiful then, but you're way more beautiful now
From sleep I fall to waking. As I awake, I find a distant wave
Still breaking on the west coast of my mind
Time casts its great illusion, such glimpses we're allowed
You were beautiful then, but you're way more beautiful now
~ James Maddock
I am a big fan of James Maddock and have seen him in small concert venues a couple of times. As a lyricist, I think he is hit-or-miss, but when he hits, it's gorgeous. I think this song hits on a level that may appeal to some more than others. It certainly appeals to me.
I am now "of a certain age" and I am very much aware of it. In a conversation with a good friend today, I mentioned that, since I cannot see my face, in my head it still looks like it did 30+ years ago. She agreed with me that she feels the same way! Sometimes, I catch a glimpse of myself in a mirror and think, "Who the hell is that?"Age sneaks up on us.
We exist in a culture that glorifies youth. That has been true my entire life. I didn't mind it so much when I was young, and keep in mind that I was part of the generation that believed that life beyond 30 was unacceptable. We all planned to end it before we got there. And then we got there. And guess what? Some of us are still here. So what do we do with our crepey skin and sagging jowls and wrinkled faces? We avoid mirrors.
Enter James Maddock's 2011 release Wake Up and Dream. The song "Beautiful Now" is brave in its dismissal of the premise that youth is beauty and instead, celebrates the beauty of aging. You were beautiful then, but you're way more beautiful now. Who would not want to hear that from a significant other? But I do not believe it is just a line. I think that it is possible to rid ourselves of the contemporary wisdom that beauty belongs to the young and to make a purposeful decision to find beauty in something other than youthful perfection. As a child, I remember studying the prominent veins in my mother's hands and finding beauty in them. I looked forward to my own hands displaying such beauty. And now, here I am, typing away with hands whose prominent veins remind me of that childhood innocence. Are they beautiful to anyone but me? Does it matter?
Time casts its great illusion. Yes, it does. An illusion is "a false idea or belief." Find beauty where you can. It has no age.
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