I have specific songs I associate with special occasions. For example, when I gaze up at the stars on a gorgeous evening I invariably start humming the old jazz standard “Like Someone In Love.” Are you familiar with it?
Lately, I find myself out gazing at stars
Hearing guitars like someone in love
That’s what happens when you’re in love. Your thoughts wander off, somewhere pleasant, like a butterfly fluttering aimlessly through the sky. You forget what you were doing, and when you come back to reality you realize you’ve been out of it for a long time. It’s just like the traditional Japanese poem “People Ask What Has Happened To Me.”
I think the best time to fall is love is from your mid teens to early twenties. Of course everyone matures at their own speed, but any younger and you’re surrounded by little brats who’ll make fun of your for being in love, and once you’re in your 20’s, reality has a way of catching up to you. And when you get even older, you become too wise for your own good.
But love in your mid teens feels uncomplicated. You don’t yet know the harsh realities of life, and even tumultuous situations feel fresh and full of energy. Those days are fleeting, and once they’re gone they’re gone forever, but memories of those times remain vibrant in your mind and can help you through pain and misery for the rest of your life.
I’ve always written books, but what’s more important here than writing events down is remembering how you felt. No matter how old you get, those who keep vivid memories of their youth in their hearts are keeping their fire alive, and they never turn into that chilling, bleak version of old age.
Build up those precious reserves of fuel for your older years by falling in love when you’re young. Money’s important, and so is a career, but you have such a short window of time to look up at the stars and be mesmerized until you almost go mad by the sounds of the guitar. It’s a vital experience. So is running out of gas because you forgot to fill up, and falling down the stairs.