Belloc* wrote about "the unchanging place where all we loved is always dear." He described it as where "we meet our morning face to face and find at last our twentieth year."
His words speak to me about memories stored in my mind and heart--memories of an idealized time where everything I once cherished—people, places, events—remain as meaningful and precious as ever.
When he speaks of facing the morning of our twentieth year, he means the place and time where we realize our cherished youth is behind us, and we come face-to-face with our future, with all its challenges and opportunities.
I read somewhere that when a patient wakes from anesthesia, the doctor asks several questions to assess their level of awareness. One of the questions is, "How old are you?"
Regardless of the patient’s age, the first response is often "nineteen." That answer may be repeated until sufficient consciousness returns to respond accurately.
For me, the age corresponding to Belloc's "carefree fields of a glorious period" came much later in life. I suppose the age isn't the same for all of us.
My passion for life, my friends, my overwhelming optimism, and my bubbling enthusiasm from that "glorious period" shine through in every story that Princess Amy shares with me about the present—whether joyful or sorrowful, whether truthful or embellished.
The Genome I remember before "meeting my morning face to face" was a kind, chivalrous, naive, aunt-ridden, code-driven, schoolboy.
I tend to overlook the low expectations for happiness that haunted those mornings. It was sufficient for me to simply escape uncomfortable circumstances.
In The Circular Journey, the Genome frequently faces bewilderment, indignity, and bullying. The source of my predicament typically lies with one of two nemeses—either Fate's practical jokes or my misguided belief that I'm the Lord of Misrule.
I almost always pay for my escape through some form of atonement or forfeit, but in the end, I'm happy to simply escape unscathed.
There’s an important life lesson in all of this—a lesson that, if I truly embrace it, could potentially transform my life and help me live happily, joyfully, and freely. However, I don't have a clue what that lesson might me. If you have any insights, please share them in the comments.