Gravity
I get compliments on my art when it shows the effects of gravity on the female body. The term I see the most in the comments is “real women”. These compliments come generally from females. I believe it is simple physics and the fact that there are so many body types. Where there is mass there will be the effect of gravity. I honestly don’t like when things that should fall are trying to levitate against nature. I consider natural as more beautiful. This is accepted by many women in theory but for some reason when it comes to judge themselves, this reality is no longer accepted. Why is that? I wish I had an answer.
Around 85% of my followers in social media and about 95% of the participants of the sculpting and painting parties are females. From people who acquired my art so far is a very similar statistic. When he buys a piece of art from me is for her. You can see my gravitation towards the female figure in my art and I think that is a connection most women perceive, but it is not only with my art. Back in college it was me and a lot of girls in almost every class. They could talk about anything shamelessly and even involve me in the conversations. That still happens today. Teaching or taking a class I am generally the only male. Recently, my wife took me to a gathering that looked like a girls’ night out. Allegedly, other guys were invited but I was the only one there.
I was a manager on a OB-GYN office therefore no female conversation is scary to me. Nevertheless, I keep trying to convince myself that it is not weird at all and that I am used to it. Honestly, it feels like some kind of calling I can’t still fathom. We all, not only women, need to understand that we are all different for a reason, that nature and natural is a beautiful thing. If you are 40 and you don’t feel or look 20, there is a very simple explanation for that: You are not 20. We age, we change, and gravity affects us all. A ‘perfect body’ is ephemeral fantasy and trying to ‘fix it’ doesn’t make It more beautiful. Moreover, no matter how much we try to fix it we will never be satisfied, because the problem is not on the outside but in the inside.
I Am Forty
Yes, I am forty. What does that mean? It means I reached an age of enlightenment and wisdom. Being 40 means that anyone under the age of 28 could technically be my son or daughter. That statement in itself changes the way you see people and how you see yourself. Being 40 means that I am not as fast or strong as I used to be but I can still play sports with people half my age with the advantage that I have nothing to prove. The pressure is all on them. If I win, they get defeated by an old man. If I lose, I’m just old. It is a win-win situation for me.
It is good to understand the advantages and limitations of your own body at any age. I am aware of mine. I do have to start working out again for health purposes. I am really not concerned about the beauty aspects of working out because it really doesn’t get any better than this. My only concern is giving away my favorite jeans because my voice changes if I wear them. If I didn’t look like Hugh Jackman 10 years ago, it is not going to happen in the next 10 years. I take smart over handsome any day because smart gets better with age, handsome is just a path downhill after certain age. Either way I’m happy with my appearance. I just need to do my part to stay healthy.
Going back to how you see yourself and others, I think Paul provided a guideline to Timothy (1 Timothy 5:1-2) that transcends any age:
Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.
I am very happy to make it until today. It is going to be a regular busy day with all the blessings as any other day, but I’m glad I can be close to my wife and kids, what I have and what I do, and what I have to do. Here is for another day, celebrating each day like the last, but working as if I have 100 more years to live. The plan is to be 40 until I turn 50.
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