If I had to choose a theme song for my life, this might be it. I first heard it shortly after I turned 21 and it seemed to appear at just the right time for me. I've never been a big fan of the idea of "growing up", that there are certain things you have to do when you get to a certain age. I think that gets people into troublesome situations some times. I know my decision to get married in my twenties was partially influenced by the thought that this is just what you did when you were this age and had been with someone for a few years.
After my divorce, I was 28 when I moved across the country to start over. I went out drinking a lot, I had one night stands, I did things that I hadn't had a chance to do when I was younger because I was married. I especially loved this song at that time because I was older than my friends who were in this same phase and my friends who were older than me didn't fail to mention they thought I was getting a bit old for this sort of thing.
Here I am at 35, unmarried, no kids, I play roller derby and I let my tattoos show. I feel young. Then I hang around people who are 10 years younger than me and I think Nope, I'm not that young anymore. Once I hit 31 or so, I really started to feel comfortable with my age. A lot of struggle is behind me, trying to figure out who I am and trying to impress people who don't matter.
I listen to this song almost every time I run. A) I like to imagine myself running naked like in the video and B) It reminds me that being silly and making mistakes is okay. My favorite line is near the end "With many years ahead to fall in line, why would you wish that on me?" because that's what I thought when people were looking down on me a few years ago. Why do you want me to be different and not have these experiences? Just because you didn't? Or because women my age "shouldn't"? Needless to say, most of those people aren't in my life anymore. The people who understood what I was going through and supported me, who loved me even when I made poor choices, those are the people who are still around me. And they probably like this song as much as I do!
