Capricious Contemplations

At some point in our lives, we will all find ourselves wishing there was a pause button we could hit. Time is fleeting, and it does not slow down the older we get. As an older woman once informed me, just because you are 80 does not mean you feel it. The Fountain of Youth has been searched for relentlessly over the years, and the notion of one ever being found seemed unfathomable. Until now.

Dr. Johnny Huard, Dr. Laura Nierdernhofer, and researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine are currently working on doing the impossible- restoring vitality to fading organs and all but pausing the aging in mice through the use of the mice's own immature muscle cells that have yet to have developed. Dr Huard stated that in 3-5 years, humans could begin banking their own stem cells for treatments similar to those being used on the experimental mice. For the full story, click here.

After watching this extremely fascinating story, I began to ponder what I would do if such an opportunity presented itself. The number of pros that would come from such a treatment are seemingly endless-an overly extended youth, the warding off of multiple diseases, and bountiful time to do everything I could imagine wanting to do with my life. Instead of debating over one major, I'd have time to go back to school and get two or three if I wanted. There would be no rush to have children, and when they were to come, there'd be so much more time to spend with them. Vanity would be less of an issue, as one wouldn't have to worry so much about fading looks. But with extended youth and more supple skin, there would be no room for beautiful laugh lines to show their face. Seeing further advancement of our world could be both incredible and terrifying. Not to mention, what sort of chaos would such a medicine cause?

Then there's this part of me that wonders how it would alter the course of one's life. I'm a believer of sorts in that everything happens for a reason, and that everyone walks a predetermined path we are unaware of. By taking a medicine that could triple our life span, how much are we messing with the natural process of things? If the people I loved were to swallow this revitalizing pill, then I of course would have to follow, any sort of life in which time with them would be extended would be an impassable offer. To partake in such a thing alone, though, might result in utter misery. 

All I am certain of at this moment in time is that, if this treatment is so successful with mice, maybe we should administer it to our dogs- those are some creatures who I would be overjoyed to see live triple what they do.

I neither embrace beginnings, nor shun them. The idea of new opportunities and experiences creates a ripple effect of shivers throughout my entire body. Yet at the same time, the matter of change leaves me clinging to the end of the last chapter for dear life. At this current point in my life, I look back and think high school was far too easy of a time. It's filled with its highs and lows, but at the end of the day, for the most part, you knew where you were headed next.

Once that cap and gown is off and hanging in your closet, you're on your own, no more guiding hands. You may be starting a job or going off to school, but who knows where either of those will really lead. You might just be simply laying about watching reruns of Boy Meets World while scarfing down potato chips, hoping that the next one you crunch into will spur on a thought process that leads you to actually knowing what it is you want to do with your life. To the people who were born knowing what their purpose in life was, congratulations (and may I add this in the nicest, most flattering way possible- fuck you). 

I'm entering my fourth semester of college in less than a week, and I still have absolutely no clue what my future holds, despite what information my psychic provided me with this summer- shout out to you Lauren Rainbow. So far I've changed my major twice, moved back home, and settled into the funkiest of funks wondering what it is thats wrong with me.

It's coming to accept that there is nothing wrong is what's the hard part. I've tried to blame this discombobulation on everything from my birth control pill to a delayed onset of a mental disorder. I don't like surprises, and I can't stand when things are beyond my control. Both are terrible little glitches in my system that I'm trying to overcome. Of three things I'm certain- I want to create, love, and be happy.

So with that new mantra in mind, I've decided that this nutcase version of my former self needs to be melted down and reshaped. Instead of desperately trying to view life as a color-by-number page out of a child's coloring book, I need to embrace it for the canvas it is. Many colors and patterns are going to appear, some that I will paint and others that will secure a spot on that pure white regardless if they are wanted or not.