A Really Good Blog I Just Read:

Experience is An Overrated Virtue
by Brad Listi

Experience is wasted on the old.

I believe this.

One of my greatest aspirations in life is not to get old in the conventional way. I don't want to become one of those people who thinks all new music sucks, all new art sucks, everything new isn't as good as the old stuff, et cetera. People who are trapped in the past depress me.

Think of artists who remain relevant and interesting---and inspired---well into middle age and beyond. Think of musicians like David Bowie. The guy continues to listen and unleash. He doesn't thumb his nose at the kids. He embraces them. He likes new stuff. He keeps himself vital by understanding that youth has much to contribute. Not only that, he seems to understand that youth can be learned from.

Too many older people get scared and hide behind the notion that they "know better." This is boring. And lame.

I sense a big generational resistance among many baby boomers to cede power to the younger generation, which I suppose is both predictable and sad. People have a hard time letting go. Most people. It's a human thing, I think.

There's something to be said for letting go gracefully. Aging gracefully. Accepting the passage of time. Accepting impermanence. Moving forward fearlessly. Staying young at heart. Staying vital.

The founders of Myspace are what? Forty? Forty-five?

Facebook? Um...twenty-two?

The founders of Google are what? Thirty-something?

Then, counterpoint: Millard Kaufman, author of the acclaimed new novel Bowl of Cherries? He's 90 years old. And this is his debut.

My point, really, is that experience as a virtue is way overrated. What matters is that a person has a vision, a dream, energy, the ability to articulate and inspire, the ability to get shit done. Maybe the person in question is twenty-two. Maybe the person in question is seventy-two. Either way, fine by me.

The point isn't how old someone is, or how long they've been doing something. That whole line of thinking is flawed and would appear to be undermined in so many ways and in so many significant instances in the modern world.


Anyway, we're right in the middle of a generational shift. Old boomers ceding to...young boomers, I suppose. (I can never keep track of which generations fall between which years.)

(And what generation am I in again?)

Anyway.

There you have it.

Dream big. And don't let anyone tell you you're too young.

Or too old.


-BL

+++++++++++

Obvious maybe. But I still like it. I don't want to grow up, I'm a Toys R Us Kid....la la la