Never Too Late
Observant readers will notice the new look for Art & Argument: lighter and cleaner. I was never completely happy with the old look, which had an old-fashioned textured look. Why didn't I change it earlier? Maybe because changing it would have drawn attention to the fact that the previous look wasn't working as well as I wanted it to. Maybe because I felt I that I had gone too far down that particular path to change.
Some of the best advice I ever encountered was that we limit our growth when we say it's too late to change or try new things. It sounds like a simple idea, but the "too late" brand of self talk is probably more pervasive than we think. The truth is that, barring certain physical or material limitations, it really is never too late to change or grow.
The changes can be minor or major, but they have the same salutary impact upon our sense of well being and confidence. On the minor side, I just grew a beard and feel energized by the change. I'd wanted to do it for quite a while, but kept saying to myself that it's too late, since the beard trend has been happening for quite a few years now. If I grew a beard now I would look like a follower, I thought. Wrong.
On the more serious side, I didn't get married or go to graduate school until I was in my early 30s. I was one of the older grad students in my masters programs, but not the oldest. I was in fact so far removed from academia that I could barely recall how to structure an essay, but I learned quick enough. And the overall energizing impact of that intense endeavor was strong. It made me young! As for marriage, well, 23 years into it, it matters not at all when it began. It wasn't too late at all.
Some of the best advice I ever encountered was that we limit our growth when we say it's too late to change or try new things. It sounds like a simple idea, but the "too late" brand of self talk is probably more pervasive than we think. The truth is that, barring certain physical or material limitations, it really is never too late to change or grow.
The changes can be minor or major, but they have the same salutary impact upon our sense of well being and confidence. On the minor side, I just grew a beard and feel energized by the change. I'd wanted to do it for quite a while, but kept saying to myself that it's too late, since the beard trend has been happening for quite a few years now. If I grew a beard now I would look like a follower, I thought. Wrong.
On the more serious side, I didn't get married or go to graduate school until I was in my early 30s. I was one of the older grad students in my masters programs, but not the oldest. I was in fact so far removed from academia that I could barely recall how to structure an essay, but I learned quick enough. And the overall energizing impact of that intense endeavor was strong. It made me young! As for marriage, well, 23 years into it, it matters not at all when it began. It wasn't too late at all.
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