As we age, as well as accumulating wisdom, hopefully, we are more adept at accepting and using criticism as a tool for learning. Why? Possibly that we perceive the giver of the criticism as an equal with a different viewpoint or more wisdom/knowledge, as opposed to the teacher/pupil, parent/child view of our younger years.
Ask anyone how old they feel and when they have finished telling you and you've compared the medication you are both on, damned the government and the weather, you may discover that they harbour within themselves a much younger version of themselves. But, of course, if you are old enough, you know that already and it's something that unites us. And the connection to writing, for me, is that I have now started to write for the child that resides in all of us. I'm not ready yet to explain that in detail because I'm still in the process of discovering what that means. An exciting journey.
As we age, as well as accumulating wisdom, hopefully, we are more adept at accepting and using criticism as a tool for learning. Why? Possibly that we perceive the giver of the criticism as an equal with a different viewpoint or more wisdom/knowledge, as opposed to the teacher/pupil, parent/child view of our younger years.
Ask anyone how old they feel and when they have finished telling you and you've compared the medication you are both on, damned the government and the weather, you may discover that they harbour within themselves a much younger version of themselves. But, of course, if you are old enough, you know that already and it's something that unites us. And the connection to writing, for me, is that I have now started to write for the child that resides in all of us. I'm not ready yet to explain that in detail because I'm still in the process of discovering what that means. An exciting journey.
You're right, Glyn, the person we feel inside is always younger. I think it gets stuck somewhere; mine is probably in the early forties...