Am I in my prime?

My body may not be saying I am, but I feel as if I am.

At 37, I may be losing my hair and my beard may be rapidly greying, but I am happier, smarter, wealthier than I’ve ever been in my life. I feel more comfortable under my skin and in my head, than I ever have. I feel more connected to God and family and have a better sense of who I am than ever before. And I’m in love.

Am I not in my prime?

It’s not just about being mature. It’s about being at peace. Or closer to it than I ever have before.

men’s-health-cover-x-s.GIF (41599 bytes)Obviously, there is so much more to learn and to grow. There is so much more to be aware of, in awe of. Naturally, self-improvement guides can still probably use aspects of my life as text-book examples of “what-not-to-do.” I could be fitter, stronger, better. All of us could.

But for now, I am in my prime.

Too bad for Don Juan Ponce de Leon. He never quite figured it out.

Who needs to go out and find the fountain of youth? It’s not in a physical place. It’s everywhere you turn. We build it for ourselves on a daily basis.

Its trace is found in the residual fountain of youth (like the one being created through this project), which is made up of things we’ve used to stay in our prime. Things like:

• used Slim-fast cans and running shoes with their soles worn out,
• wrinkled pages from the Dalai Lama’s book “The Art of Happiness,”
• empty tubes of acrylic paint and used brushes,
• credit card receipts from restaurant dinners and shopping sprees,
• DVD and CD wrappers, concert tickets and movie stubs,
• the filled-up pages of a passport,
• the photos and mementos of our friends and loved ones,

the residue that’s left as we craft our lives.

Being in our prime– finding our fountain of youth– is not about turning back time, but about using it.

It’s about finding things to do with time. To keep us entertained. To keep us connected. To keep us happy. To keep us aware. To keep us in love. To keep us in check. In our prime.

It’s about a process. In a way, the fountain of youth is an exploration. One that focuses inward.

And allows us to dye our hair, if we feel so inclined…

–Xavier Cortada